When Your Reflection Isn't You
by cecily grace
Summary: All Meredith wanted was to keep her life just as it was, perfect. However, when a mysterious girl barges into your life, with your face, your life won't stay normal for long. Lucille is on the run when she manages to get entangled with SHIELD. Can she talk her way out or will she be forced to spill her seventeen year's worth of secrets and abandonment issues? 2nd Gen&1st Gen
1. Chapter 1

Luce groaned, her head was pounding, it felt like there were a thousand jackhammers trying to bust their way out of her skull. She shifted, realizing she was lying on bed. _That's new _she thought. Luce blinked her eyes open, confused at the sudden whiteness of everything. Where were the moldy green walls of the cheap apartment Mom had rented? Gone was the putrid smell of air freshener and rot. Replaced instead by disinfectant and lemon. Luce furrowed her brow as it became clear where she was. The beeping of the machines next to her bed alerted her of her steady heartbeat. An IV wound itself from her hand up to a bag of saline on a rack. A least she hoped it was saline. She better not be dying

_Dying. Suddenly she was in the passenger seat of a car. The car was driving erratically, racing through traffic. The woman in the driver's seat was looking behind her, she turned her head towards Luce, red hair flipping over her shoulder. "I think we lost them." Luce found herself nodding "Good, now can go get something to eat? I'm starving, all I've had since yesterday is half a bagel." Her mom looked at her, green eyes twinkling, "Always so flippant aren't you?" Luce grinned cheekily, "I've learned from the best." _

"Oh good you're awake!" Luce jerked out of her daydream, or was it a memory? She hadn't noticed the nurse come in. "Uhh.." The nurse smiled at her in a kind way, "Now not to worry sweetie only a few bumps and bruises, possibly a concussion. You remember anything dear?" The nurse busied herself checking the monitors and then Luce's vitals. Luce frowned, trying to piece together what she was doing in this hospital and how she managed to get here. The Last she remembered was…

_"Hey." Her mom said in the abrupt manner she had, "I'm going to step out for a minute. You stay here alright? Don't open the doors or anyone." Luce rolled her eyes "Gosh Mom I'm not two!" Her mom sighed almost wistfully, "I know you're not." __Then __slipped out, locking the door behind her. Luce laid back on the dingy bed, gazing at the ceiling of the decrepit place they were staying. __Luce__ didn't know why her mom suddenly decided to come to New York. After all she had spent the last seventeen years of her life avidly avoiding it all costs. Luce wasn't going to complain though, she'd been dying to come the city. She wanted to go to all the museums and see the parks and all the sites. Touristy stuff. Stuff she hadn't really ever been able to do before. Of course, things never worked out the way they were planned, and now Luce was stuck sitting in this dirt-hole waiting for her mom to get back from wherever. As much as she wanted to be mad at her mother, Luce found that any anger would never last long. Her mom had sacrificed so much for her, and let's face it, she generally did know what was for the best. So Luce laid there, on the bed, waiting for her mother to return, contemplating what she'd do if she lived a normal life._

"Darling?" The nurse waved her hand in front of Luce's face, "Are you alright? You zoned out there for a minute." Luce looked into her eyes and saw nothing but warm concern, "uh.. yeah.. sorry. I'm fine. When can I leave?" The nurse chuckled, "not for a bit I'm afraid, and I haven't even gotten your name yet!" She laughed some more, shaking her head, "young ones always in a hurry." Luce bit her lip, contemplating. She had stopped listening to the nurse ramble on, she needed to leave the hospital, she needed to find out how she got here. Luce racked her brain trying desperately to remember anything, any sort of clue as to how she got in this mess. "Um, excuse me? Nurse?" Luce asked quietly. "Hmm? Yes dear?" The nurse had been fruitlessly straightening Luce's already straight bedcovers. "How… How am I here?" Luce hated not knowing, she hated having to ask. To ask for information was to show weakness. People were supposed to readily give it up, sometimes with a few prompting remarks. That's what Luce knew at least. But she didn't have time to waste with the nurse. Besides it wasn't like it mattered. Not here. "Oh dear," the nurse sighed at her. Luce hoped she would stop with the pet names. It was getting on her nerves. "You don't remember do you? I suppose that makes sense. You did hit your head awfully hard." The nurse gazed at her with an empathetic look that sent Luce's skin crawling, "You were in a car accident darling, a rather bad one. In fact you should count your lucky stars you aren't in worse condition!" _Hardly, _Luce thought, _it isn't my lucky stars I should be thanking_. But she didn't say that, instead she asked again, wincing inwardly "What happened?"

"Well, we aren't exactly sure. The car you were found in had been t-boned, by another. You were in the passenger seat, but they…" The nurse hesitated here, putting her hands softly on top of Luce's, who didn't pull away. "They, couldn't find a driver." Luce caught her breath. _They couldn't find a driver. __**They couldn't find a driver.**_

_Her mom laughed, facing front again both hands on the wheel. "Alright then. Where do you want to eat?" Luce pondered, "HMMMM" exaggerating the thinking face so as to make her mom laugh again. She had been exceptionally tense since their arrival in New York and Luce had made it her goal to get her mother to relax as much as possible. "How about… cupcakes?" Her mom shook her head, "Hardly a food group there Lu." "But mom," Luce protested, "You don't understand, New York is renowned for cupcakes. It's what made them famous." Her mom raised an eyebrow, "Funny. But no. Pick a place where we can get a real meal. You never know when you'll eat again." Luce's stomach rumbled as if to supplement the point. It was her mom's motto really. Always be prepared. Don't expect the unexpected, because then it becomes the expected. Just be ready for any possible outcome. Luce sighed gazing out the window, her eyes rest upon a little Italian place. Eyes lighting up, she turned __crookedly in her seat __to face her mom, and saw __a dark blur come rushing at them__. __The next thing she knew, she was flying __back against the window, her head smacking against the window. Her ears rang, she shook her head trying to clear the sound, but her mind screeched in protest. Her mom laid still against the wheel of the car. Luce unstrapped her seatbelt, "mom.. mom.." She shook her mother, who groaned softly. Then __coming to, __jumped into action. "Luce? Damages?" Luce forced a smile on her face, "smacked my head but I'm alright." Sudden __voice__s__ came from outside the car. They __were __deep and masculine. They weren't speaking English. German. It look Luce a second to decide. "Go cautious." A voice barked. "We want them alive for now." Luce couldn't tell how many there were, she shot a look at her mom. She was disentailing herself from the wreckage but appeared unhurt. "Luce…" Funny her mom looked all fuzzy suddenly, "Lu.." Yeah fuzzy like a panda bear. Luce couldn't help but giggle. Sudden stabs of pain shot through her skull. Big mistake. There was a sudden darkness. "LUCILLE!" Her mom shook her awake. "Luce, listen to me right now." Luce looked at her mom, who was staring at her intensely, "listen. I'll take care of the Hand alright? I need you to get this to Tony Stark," she shoved a small USB drive into Luce's palm. "Tony Stark, do you understand?" Luce blinked at her trying to make out the words through the haze of pain, "Tony Stark" she repeated numbly. Her mom gave her a tight smile. "I'll be back" Kissing Luce on the forehead she slipped through the shattered driver's __side__ window. Luce could hear yelling and gunshots as they sounds grew fainter. The last thing she heard was sirens before she gave into the blackness devouring her mind. _

"Oh." Luce suddenly vaulted back into the present, suddenly anxious. The nurse looked at her concerned. "I'm sorry, sweetheart." "Do you have my things? The things I was wearing?" The nurse leaned back slightly taking in the change in her patient. Luce didn't care what the nurse thought. Her mom had given her a mission and she was wasting time sitting here in this hospital bed. "Of, of course, they're right here in these drawers." The nurse gestured to the dresser on the opposite wall. "Let me get them for you." Luce started to protest but the nurse was already across the room. "Here you go, I'm afraid they're still dirty. There hasn't been enough time to get them laundered." She deposited the garments on Luce's bed, who grabbed for them patting them down until she felt the familiar shape of a USB in her pants pocket. She must have put it there before she passed out. Luce breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't gone. "Happy now?" the nurse said. "Yes." Luce said settling back into her pillows, trying to keep her still pounding head still. The nurse grinned in a placating way, "Wonderful! I'll go tell the doctor you're awake, he'll be so pleased." Luce didn't bother responding. She was too busy contemplating how to get out of the hospital unnoticed.

...

Luce fiddled with the jello on her tray. The doctor had come to check her rather rapidly after the nurse left leaving Luce no time to implement her escape plan. Then, there hadn't been a shortage of nurses flowing through all day. _You'd think there'd be more important things to do in a hospital then to check up on a concussion patient. _Luce thought bitterly. That had been the doctor's diagnosis. A rather serious one he has said. Luce scoffed at that. She'd had worse. Although if she was being honest with herself, Luce would have to admit this one was pretty bad. She still didn't see why she was still here though. She had surmised she'd been in the hospital for almost six hours. _Waaaay longer than necessary, _she thought. The EMTs had brought her in in the morning and it was almost four in the afternoon by now. Luce was losing precious daylight time and she hated every second of it. She hated the waiting. She hated hospitals. She hated the endless questions the most. They had asked who she was of course, since she hadn't an ID on her. Luce told them her name was "Abigail Brown". The totaled car after all, belonged to a "Mrs. Brown" and since Luce wasn't sure how much story checking the doctors were doing she thought she might as well stick with the cover that was in place.

"Abby?" A nurse knocked, poking her head in. This one was blonde, different from the one before, but no more memorable. "Yeah?" Luce put down her fork, resolving never to touch cherry jello again. "There are some men here who would like to speak with you about the accident." Luce immediately went on high alert, "men?" The nurse flashed her a smile, "just some detectives that want your side of the story." That didn't reassure Luce one bit, but she laid back against the covers, looking for all the world, submissive. The nurse took that as a sign to let the detectives in. The men entered the room one at a time. The first one was shorter than the second, somewhat balding but he had trustworthy look to his face. As if he believed in everything he did. Of course that didn't mean Luce trusted him, she knew all to well about how faces could lie. The second man was a bit taller than the first, but he was stocky, well-muscled. He looked uncomfortable, out of place in the suit he was wearing. The second man stopped short when he saw Luce, and tried, unsuccessfully, to keep Luce from noticing. The first man, either didn't see it, or chose to ignore it. He held out a badge briefly, "My name's Agent Coulson, this is Agent Barton." He gestured to the second man, "We'd like to ask you a few questions if that's alright." It wasn't a question, however it was phrased, it was a demand, Luce understood. She put on her tragic amnesiac car accident victim persona. Playing the ever innocent role of school girl. While she groaned inwardly, _this is going to take so much time. Better just get rid of them as quick as possible. _"However I can help!" She said cheerfully, "though I don't remember much." Luce added a tinge of regret to her sickly sweet voice. "No matter," Agent Coulson said, "We'll take what we can get." He smiled at her not unkindly, "What do you remember?" Luce sighed, looking to the distance as if to recall, "not much," she spoke wistfully, "I was in the car with my mom, we were going to get Italian…" _As much truth as possible without giving it away that was the key to a successful lie. Her mom told her often and Luce never forgot. _"I'm not sure what happened next, we got hit and that's all I remember." Agent Coulson frowned, clearly not happy with the lack of information. "Your mom, she was driving the car correct?" Luce nodded, and didn't fail to notice that the pain she had felt earlier in the day was receding. "As I understand it, your mom wasn't in the car when first-responders got to the accident, it that correct?" Luce shrugged, "that's what they told me. I don't really understand.. I dunno where she went" Luce allowed a bit of distress into her voice, not letting it get to tears, but just enough so the agents believed her. Agent Coulson's face softened at that, Agent Barton's, Luce noted, did not. In fact, he hadn't done much but stare at her. "Look," Agent Coulson's voice had softened, he walked closer to her. "I know this is upsetting, but is there anything. Anything at all that you remember. Even if you think it's trivial it could help lead us to the people who hit you, to your mom." Luce screwed up her face as if trying in vain to remember, she sighed allowing evident sadness into her features now, "I… I can't I'm so sorry" Her voice cracked as if near tears. Agent Coulson let a breath through his nose, showcasing his frustration. "Alright. That's all for now." He started for the door, "Get better and let us know if you remember anything else." He dropped a card on her bed and then exited, quickly followed by Agent Barton who gave her a hard long look before finally leaving. Luce waited until their footsteps were long down the hall and let the teary-eyed persona drop. She picked up the card the agent had left.

Phil Coulson

(646) 555-9385

_Huh. _She thought. _No title, no agency. __Agency_ _even. Why were they sending agents to do a policeman's job? _Luce laid back against her pillow, meditating on what had just occurred and setting up her plan for leaving the hospital that night.

...

Clint Barton scoffed. "Can you believe that kid? The audacity to lie right to our faces! Unbelievable!" He and Coulson were walking through a park on their way to the food trucks. Phil said nothing, he was busy mulling over the encounter in his head. Clint, though was done being silent. "and did you notice how much she resembled Meri? It was odd, she's definitely hiding something. Abigail Brown my ass." Phil stopped suddenly. Looking at Clint as though a thought had just occurred to him, "what'd you say?" Clint stopped too, staring back. "I said a lot of things."

"No no, about Meri."

"Oh yeah," Clint shrugged, "they look almost exactly alike. Well, except the hair, and the eyes. There was something off about that girl's eyes." Phil said nothing, just started walking again, nodding and mumbling to himself. Clint didn't bother to notice though. This detective work wasn't really his thing. He was only along in case they somehow ran into The Hand. _The Hand, _he thought _those bastards were definitely behind the crash. It had there MO all over it. Showy. In a Public Place. Lots of witnesses to exaggerate the story later. It was the through the witnesses how they had managed to find out about the attack. There had been traffic cam footage of course, but it had only lasted two minutes on their server before it was somehow wiped. Long enough to get extremely pixelated head shots of course. And their best techs were on trying to find out who managed to erase the footage. As of right now though, all they had to go on was the numerous, every changing witness accounts of the big scary, Russian/German/Polish men giants who apparently fought a woman and then ran off. That, and the girl. Gosh, that girl. She was a puzzle to Clint. He had no idea how she fit into all of this, why she was there, who she was with and why she chose to lie to them. Ah well, Phil will figure it all out, _Clint surmised, _all I've got to focus on is what kind of gyros I want. _

_..._

**Thanks for reading! If you got this far, but didn't like it, feel free to let me know why! That way I can actually like, improve. :)**

_..._


	2. Ch 2-Meri

**Whaat? Another chapter so soon? Yeah, 'cause I wanted to write you another author's note, I've got more to tell you. So, thanks for clicking Second Chapter, you rock! Annd stick around till the end! **

Meredith Barton wanted absolutely nothing to do with the jerk who was waiting by her locker. She sighed wishing for all the world that she could skip going to her locker and just head straight to class. It was no use of course, she had forgotten her history paper and she didn't dare ask Mrs. Grey to go to her locker to get it. Meri valued her life thank you very much. Setting her shoulders in a determined stance she marched over to where her ex-boyfriend was waiting for her. "Dylan." She said with as much menace as she could muster. "Merida" he smirked at her. She wanted to slap him. She hated that nickname and she hated the movie _Brave._ It all started because she was on the archery team and just happened to have unruly red hair. Of course, she quickly put an end to the it by outshooting everyone on the team and then declaring that the next person to call her Merida would find the bulls-eye painted on their back. She hadn't meant it of course, but when your extended family is the ever-so famous Avengers, people tend to take your threats seriously. Well, Meri noted, unless their name was Dylan Kopff. "Listen, I have an essay to grab and a class to get to, so if you would so kindly move out of my way…" Meredith put her hand on her hip and glared at him. "Sure thing babe whatever you want, IF you promise to come to Jake's party with me." Dylan leaned on her locker in the clichéd bad-boy pose. Meredith almost snorted, as if that would work on her. She gave him a sickly sweet smile, "First off, not your babe. Second, I wouldn't go to Jake's party with you if I was a blind amnesiac and it was my only hope for survival. Now MOVE!" Dylan glared at her shifting forward to get right in her face, "you little…"

"this punk bothering you Mer?" Dylan jerked back as though he'd been shocked. Meredith smiled a small smile and turned to look at the newcomer. He was of average height, but solidly built to wear his muscles clearly showed through his shirt. His black hair was eternally messy in a devil-may-care way. Meredith was sure he put effort into that look, no matter how many times he would deny it. She had seen the hair gel. "Naw, Phil I'm sure he was just leaving." To his credit, Dylan took the hint, stopping a moment to glare at Philip Stark before stalking off. "Geez Mer, you really can pick em." Meredith socked her sort-of cousin in the arm, "oh shut it. I had no idea he'd be a stalking lunatic. I didn't even know they made stalking lunatics that cute." Phil rolled his eyes at his cousin's foolishness, "c'mon we'll be late." As if on cue, the bell rang signaling the end of the passing period. "Right." She said, spinning the combo on her lock, grabbing the papers within and slamming it shut. She turned down the hall, quickening her pace slightly to catch up to where Phil was already. _Ever the impatient one, _she thought shaking her head smiling.

* * *

When the bell rang signaling the end of the day, Meri couldn't help but breathe a sigh of joy. It was Friday, she had made it through a French test, a math test and managed to avoid Dylan for the rest of the day following the locker incident. Rolling her eyes just thinking about it again, _what I ever saw in him, I don't even know_ she thought. _Oh wait, yes I do, he was a charming bad-boy who paid me attention for once. _Smacking herself mentally, Meredith collected the last of her papers off her desk, shoved them in her backpack and made her way to the front of the room. "Meredith!" Her teacher called. She cringed, "yes Mr. Christopher?"

"A word please," he gestured for her to come over. Meredith liked Mr. Christopher, he was the best Physics teacher on campus and she happened to like physics a lot. She knew what he was going to say though, and _that_ she hated. "It's about the parent-teacher conferences?" He looked at her expectantly. Meredith feigned innocence, "what about them?" He smiled, not believing her charade. "You haven't turned in the slip to sign up for a time yet" He gave her a sympathetic look, and Meri grimaced inwardly, she knew that look. "I know your father's really busy with his job, but I think it would be really beneficial to both of you if he came to a conference for once." Mr. Christopher adjusted his glasses in an all-knowing way but Meredith just gave him a brilliantly fake smile, "sure Mr. Christopher. I'll tell him." Not giving him a chance to respond, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room.

_Stupid teachers think they know everything. Stupid Norgate with its parent-teacher conferences in high school. __High School_.Meri breathed a sigh of disgust. _She was a top tier student. Straight As, extracurriculars, she even volunteered at a school dance once. Granted, she hadn't been the most helpful. But she tried! Still they insisted the need to have conferences. Ridiculous. It's just because they think I've got issues. AS IF. Sure Dad's hardly around, but she'd rather him be saving the world than stuck in New York. Sure, she never knew the mom that abandoned her as a baby. But she didn't need her mom. She had Pepper and Jane for that! Okay, so maybe it was mainly Pepper, but still. It was something. _

"Yo dark cloud of despair over there." Meri glanced up quickly at the voice. The speaker, grinned cheekily at her. "Oh, hey Bella." Meri grinned at her best friend. "And I'm not a cloud of despair!" Belladonna Banner nodded, "uh huh sure you're not. Your daddy-issues just got called out in front of class and you aren't upset at all." Meri glared at her, "at least my dad isn't a monster." Bella feigned hurt, her hand over her chest, "ooh my heart! You struck so deep!" Meri smirked at her melodramatic friend. "What's going on?" Philip had wandered over to wear the girls were standing, waiting for the car that would pick them up and bring them home. "It's Meri, she's struck me with a brilliant retort. Here, grab the dagger out of my heart, will you Phil?" Bella, who'd been hunching over straightened just enough to stroke his cheek. Meredith laughed at that and pushed her friend. Phil just stood there, shaking his head at their antics. Luckily they were saved from any retaliatory action from Bella, by the car pulling up. Meri clambered in the hummer, "Hi Happy!" She called cheerfully, her angst from earlier completely forgotten. Philip and Bella climbed in behind her, each greeting Happy in turn. "Oh, take me home today, will you Happy? I've things to attend to." Meredith snorted. "Things to attend to Bella? Could you possibly put on anymore airs?" Bella looked affronted, she adopted a horrifyingly exaggerated English accent, "but DAH-ling!" Philip laughed, causing Bella to break character and laugh along.

Happy dropped Bella off at her Upper East Side apartment before turning in the direction of Stark Tower. "So they finally got that accident from this morning cleared up." He said to no one in particular. "Hmm?" said Philip absentmindedly, absorbed in his phone. "Did you ever find out what happened Happy?" asked Meredith. "Not really, apparently someone got t-boned by a giant SUV. That's really all I heard." Happy shrugged, content in his basic knowledge. Meredith frowned, not sure what to make of it. They had been stuck in the traffic all morning, and were late to school as a result. Bella said they should just walk for it, but Happy didn't let them. Meri could've sworn she saw someone run down an alley, away from the wreck. It piqued her interest, but then this _was _New York.

* * *

Happy dropped them off at the front of Stark Tower, before driving off to park the car. They walked in, through the rather grandiose lobby, It was imposing, but in a futuristic sense, _with a lot of pointless floating metal things._ Meredith thought. She nodded to the desk agent on duty and she and Philip made their way to elevator in the back. Once inside they swiped their ID badges to gain access to the penthouse suite at the top of the tower.

The doors _swooshed_ open to an empty living room. Not surprising to either of them. Pepper worked at the Stark Industries office all day. Tony was likely down a couple floors working on plans for who-knows-what, and Dad, Meri noted, was rarely, if ever, home. The rest of the Avengers stayed at their own apartments throughout the city. They visited often though, and it was always exciting when they did. Philip made a beeline for his room and Meredith made her way over to the fridge hoping to score some yogurt from that great organic place down the street. She was just spooning some into a bowl, when Philip peeked his head in, "hey Meredith?" She glanced up at him, "hey Philip?" She mocked his hesitating tone. He glared at her then came all the way into the kitchen, "so _are _you going to Jake's party tonight?" Meredith shrugged. "I wasn't really planning on it, I mean, Dad's supposed to get home from wherever tonight so…" she trailed off. "Oh right." Philip said nodding. She looked at him then rolled her eyes. Phil could be so pathetic sometimes. He literally could have any girl at school he wanted, he was already pretty popular. He was just so, so _hesitant_. Though, she supposed it was probably in effort not to be like his ex-playboy father. "Alright." She said, giving in, "I'll go with you." He shot her a huge grin. "Perfect. Thanks cuz." Then he turned and sprinted off, back to his room. "You owe me one!" she yelled after him.

* * *

Meredith tugged on her dress, dragging it the tiniest bit further down to avoid the looks she was getting walking down the street. Not that she minded really, she was flattered, it was just a tad creepy. "Oh relax" Philip said to her, having noticed the action, "we're almost there" She raised her eyebrows at him, "you're telling me to relax? I love parties. You're the one who doesn't have the guts to ask someone other than the person you practically grew up with." Philip shot her a dark look, but was saved having to reply by their arrival at the warehouse. It was the new thing apparently. Warehouse parties. It was the rich kids of Norgate's way to flaunt authority without committing a really serious crime. Meredith moved through the door, hit by an instant wall of heat from the dancing bodies. The music thumped in her chest and she turned to grin wildly at Philip. He mouthed something at her, but she couldn't hear him. "WHAT?!" she yelled, cupping her hand to her ear. "I SAID, 'AND YOU DIDN'T WANT TO COME!" he yelled back. Meredith laughed loudly, already caught up in the ecstatic mood of the crowd. She turned away from Philip then, looking towards the center of the crowd, searching for her school friends. Spotting them on the other side, she glanced back at Phil, gave him a 'come-on' gesture and started pushing through the dancers.

Meredith was dancing with some guy when Philip suddenly grabbed her arm pulling her away. "HEY what did you do that for?" She was mad, the guy had been cute and she thought she knew him from her math class. Philip glared at her, "You abandoned me." She raised her eyebrows, "_that's _what you wanted to tell me?" He gave her a look, "no what I wanted to tell you was that I think we should leave!" She looked at him confused. "WHAT?!" He sighed and dragged her over to a corner where the music was slightly less loud. "I said, I think we should leave. I think the police are coming" He crossed his arms. "Wait, what? How do you even know that?" He pointed to his ear. Meri furrowed her brow, concentrating. Sure enough, she heard them too. Sirens. "Shit." She said mouth wide, "we gotta leave. Now." Meredith hated to figure out what would happen if she was caught flaunting authority. "I know" he said, "c'mon" he grabbed her arm and started leading her to the front, where the door lay. It was no use though, they were too late. By the time they made it out the door, the sirens were right outside, and they had walked right into the six police cars barricading any way home. Meredith groaned,

"My father's going to kill me."

**So this one, is shorter than my first, so I apologize for that. It also isn't about Luce so if you were hoping for that, I am also sorry. But hopefully I'll update her tomorrow ****J**** Secondly, I need help with a title. That was like my first attempt, and I'm not sure how many people it'll hook, so um if you have any sugestions, I'd be grateful ****J**** There was something else, I think, but I'm blanking… to my credit, it is 2 am. Anyway, um I would really a review (as all authors do) but even if it's just a smiley face (or sad face, but I hope not) it is really encouraging for those writing juices to flow ahaha that sounded odd.. Anyway, again, feedback is SO appreciated. And I know the story seems all over the place, but bear with me, I promise, ****_promise_**** it will all come together ASAP. Love all my readers! Please review! And you rock, remember that!**

**See you on the flip side -CG**


	3. Chapter 3-Luce

**Say hello to chapter three! Special shout-out to clarawithfitzsimmonsin221b you are amazing and hope you aren't disappointed! Please hang around for the author's note at the end! Enjoy! **

Phil Coulson drummed his fingers on the dashboard of his red corvette watching the front entrance/exit of the City Hospital closely. It wasn't like him to be this anxious he noted, but Phil was tired of running in circles and he wanted answers. He wanted them now. The Hand had been evading them for too long, and this girl was somehow involved with them. His gut told him so and it was rarely, if ever, wrong.

It all started five years ago with the attempted assassination of a few choice world leaders. They had been attending the World Leadership Council in Prague. It was a relatively new endeavor where world leaders would gather every few years to discuss recent developments and attempt to settle disputes without war. Similar to the UN, although the Leadership Council wasn't appointed members it was actual heads of State, with real and immediate political power. Several members of the leading democratic nations had been in a committee meeting when a large explosion went off. The problem hadn't been the explosion, though it did do some serious damage to the city. It was the sniper on the roof of the opposite building who took the confusion and destruction of the building to pick off some heads of State. Or tried to, Phil corrected. SHIELD had been part of the security task force at the Council and quickly recognized the threat. They attempted to apprehend the assassin, but whoever it was managed to get away. Lucky for SHIELD a group known as The Hand emerged from relative obscurity to claim credit for the attack.

Phil shook his head just thinking about it. _The Hand_. After appearing those five years ago, they had been nothing but trouble. They thrived on chaos in an ordered world, and made no attempts to disguise their hatred for democracy and socialism. The Hand always struck loud and proud. Subtly wasn't their endgame. In the months following the Prague attack, The Hand blew up several more buildings, started a raging fire in downtown London and nearly destroyed Hollywood. The sudden increase and massive casualties of the attacks led SHIELD to create a taskforce specifically designed to bring them down.

He, Phil Coulson, was a major part of that force. The unofficial head of the team, he designated cases and distributed information. He always kept the most difficult (and promising) ones to himself and Barton though. In fact, they had just gotten back from a fruitless search in Bangladesh. What was supposed to be a main headquarters for the terrorist group, turned out to be a bunch of empty office buildings that had been evacuated weeks ago. Teams were combing the buildings now, hoping for the barest scrap of information that might lead them to what The Hand had planned next. Phil and Barton had just touched down in New York when they got the call that The Hand had struck right there on 5th Avenue. The Hand ran though, and now all Coulson had to go on was a mysterious young women who looked a lot like his niece and happened to lie right to their faces.

Coulson reached over and pressed the link on his comms unit, "Lola to Hawkeye, how is it looking up there?" The comms crackled as Clint Barton responded, "empty and wondering what I'm doing sitting on a roof." Phil allowed himself a small smile, "I thought you liked your perches Hawk." The comms crackled once more, "I wasn't expecting rain" Clint's voice responded bitterly over the line. Sure enough it had been raining steadily for the past twenty minutes. "Don't worry, she'll come. I know it" Coulson reassured his despairing partner. "You better be right" was the retort. Coulson focused again on the doors of the hospital, his instinct hadn't steered him wrong yet.

* * *

Luce opened her eyes slowly, hearing the nurse's footsteps fade down the hall as she made her rounds. It was just after midnight, when the night shift was entering into its quieter stages. The doctors had required Luce to stay overnight for observation purposes. When she protested, they cited the fact she was a minor and weren't allowed to release her to anyone but a parent or guardian. With no proper defense to that logic, Luce slipped into the role of dutiful patient biding her time until her escape. The nurse's footsteps having finally disappeared, Luce slipped out of bed quietly, you can never be too careful, and pulled on her clothes from yesterday. There was no trace of injury from the accident that put her in the hospital in the first place, and for that fact Luce was glad. It'd be a lot harder to sneak out of the hospital if she had to crutch her way down the hall. Luce patted her pocket, checking that the USB drive was still there, then she moved closer to the machines on the wall. She had been careful not to disturb the IV and heart rate monitor when she pulled her clothes on, and now searched for a way to turn off the machines. _Only I could be so unlucky_, Luce thought after resigning herself to the fact the machines couldn't be unplugged. _Well, I'll just have to be cautious then_. Luce pulled out the IV and monitor causing the machines to start beeping erratically. Not hesitating Luce took off out of the room and down the hall. By her reasoning, and careful observation, the night nurse should be too far away to hear it, or at least be far enough so as Luce could manage to be a floor down by the time the nurse noticed. Moving not slow, but not too fast, Luce marched down the hall with purpose in her stride. She acted as if she had all the right in the world to be walking down the hall at 1:30 in the morning. She schooled her features into an I-am-too-busy-for-you face and made her way to the elevators.

If she thought it strange that she hadn't been stopped yet, Luce didn't act on it. She trusted her training, and didn't hesitate to care how incompetent the hospital staff was. Having made it to the lobby, Luce peered around the corner, watching the night clerk. Once his back was turned, Luce glided past him, through the doors, pausing only when she was around the corner away from view. Luce breathed in the cool night air and smelt…. Rain. _Crap _she thought disgusted. Luce didn't care to have to walk through downtown New York in the rain. She briefly entertained the idea of going back inside but then thought better of it. The faster she got rid of the USB the quicker she could find her mom and get her life back to normal. She scoffed, _normal, as if. _She'd seen TV and there was no way her life was considered normal. Not that she minded, if she was honest with herself. Luce might like the idea of a normal life with a white picket fence and green lawn, school dances even, but she knew she'd get bored of it eventually.

Setting her shoulders, Luce started off down the sidewalk, within moments soaking wet. She failed to notice the red corvette parked behind her down the block and the figure perched atop the building near it.

* * *

"I've got eyes" Barton's voice rang through the silence of the car. "I see her," Coulson replied. "You want me to engage?" Phil narrowed his eyes, studying the figure who'd appeared outside the hospital. She didn't seem dangerous, but with The Hand you never know. He watched her look back towards the hospital then square her shoulders against the rain and take off down the street. "Negative" Coulson said, "just observe and follow." Coulson waited until the girl was further down the road until he turned the key bringing the car to life, slowly pulling into the road.

* * *

Luce was sincerely regretting leaving the hospital at this point. She was soaked to the bone, cold and, though she hated to admit it, lost. New York apparently didn't have directories and the people were none too friendly at two in the morning. Luce sighed, trudging down another near identical road, she was just about ready to ditch her morals and start picking pockets for bus change. _No, easy Luce, you're better than that, _she told herself. _Just find a nice place to camp for a while, till the sun comes up_. Sure, easy to do if nice place meant garbage-filled, rat-infested alleyway. She sighed stopping for a moment to look at her sorry, soggy reflection in the nearest shop window. Luce raised her hands combing through her shoulder length hair. The vibrant red color was a darker auburn in the rain and much to Luce's dismay, it had started to curl. She paused suddenly, something catching her eye, then slowly continued the movement so as to not alert anyone watching. _It's that damn red corvette again, _she thought. She'd spotted the car twice already on two different streets, and now here it was again. _Once is normal, twice is a coincidence and third time's a tail. _The mantra played itself through Luce's head. But who was it? It couldn't be The Hand. Not already. Her mom said she'd take care of it, and if it's The Hand then that means…. _No Luce, don't go there. Just focus on losing them. _Right. Losing a car tail as a pedestrian isn't so hard, the difficulty comes when trying to not let the opposition know they've been made. Luce turned from her reflection and continued down the sidewalk again, this time keeping her eyes wide open.

She turned down a wider avenue and sure enough the corvette did too. Luce gave the guy, or whoever it was, some credit though, they had been using the bigger cars to their advantage, hiding behind them so as to not let her have more of a chance at recognizing it. Luce quickened her pace slightly, the quicker she lost them, the better. Spotting an open store ahead, she made her way towards it. She pushed through the people and slipped through the door. It turned out to be a late-night restaurant. "Table?" A host approached her holding a menu and gazing at her wet clothes snidely. "Bathroom first?" Luce said in a sweet voice, flashing him a brilliant smile. She had resolved long ago not to be bothered by judgmental strangers she'd never see again. He didn't return the smile, just gestured to a hallway near the back of the restaurant. Luce made her way through the patrons, and back to the hall. Sure enough, right where she knew it would be was a back door. Access to the alley and the perfect way to drop a car tail. She smiled at her sudden turn of luck, pushed open the door, stepping into the alley only to have the smile instantly drop off her face.

Standing in front of her was the quiet agent from the hospital only he had ditched the suit for a black leather ensemble. He stood confidently in her way, holding in front of him a... Luce blinked, not believing at first. The jerk had a freakin bow and arrow drawn. And pointed right at her.

He raised an eyebrow, "Going somewhere?"

* * *

"She's entering a restaurant Hawkeye. I think she means to go through the back. I've been made." Coulson's voice cracked in Clint's ear. "I'm on it." Clint crept quietly to the edge of the building roof he was standing on. He had to admit it, he loved this part of New York, all the buildings were relatively the same height and close together. When they weren't it was always easy access to the next one via fire escape, which was where he was headed now. Reaching the end of the building, Clint looked for the fire escape spotting it just to his right. Quickly clambering down, he took up a position just in front of the restaurant's alley door. Moments later, the door swung open and the girl emerged. "Abby" or whatever. She had a small grin plastered to her face, which Hawkeye allowed himself a little bit of pleasure in seeing it drop off her face when she noticed him. The girl glanced at his face, then took in the weapon pointed at her chest.

"Going somewhere?" He couldn't resist quipping. The girl scowled at him, "if you're going to kill me, you think you could tell me who you work for first?" She said putting her hand on her hip and shifting her weight to one foot, adopting a bored posture. Clint's eyebrows drew together at that, confused. Why is she acting so nonchalant about what she thinks is her eventual death? "I'm not going to kill you" Clint said, _at least not yet. _"Oh good!" she said brightly, "I'll be going then." She made an attempt to brush past him. Clint stepped in her way, "I said I'm not going to kill you, I didn't say I was done with you." She glared up at him now, as if contemplating the best way to knock him out. But before she made another move, Coulson appeared in the alleyway. Lola was idling behind him, blocking the exit. "Miss Brown" he called out, and the girl turned to face him, "We just want a few words with you." She raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? And who's we?" The girl crossed her arms, face now stoic. "SHIELD Miss Brown."

"SHIELD was disbanded over twenty years ago, Agent. Try again" her face betrayed no emotion. Nothing to suggest what she was thinking. "That's what we wanted people to think," Coulson took a step closer to her, "It was remade, better, more secret and with much more power." She said nothing to that, and then she didn't have the chance. Hawkeye had moved to behind her while she was facing Coulson. He took out a syringe and then plunged it into the girl's neck. With a slight gasp, the girl went rigid and then collapsed to the ground. Coulson leaped forward, catching her before she hit the pavement. "You didn't have to do that." He looked up at Clint. Clint shrugged, "trust me, she wasn't going to come with us by any other means."

**Whoo third chapter! Sorry that it's on the short side and doesn't clear up much. I wanted your opinion on that by the way, do you prefer shorter (like this length) chapters with faster updates, or longer chapters with weekly updates? (I am going to note though, I may not be able to update till Friday or Saturday, but we'll see how the week goes) Anyway, let me know which you like more! And as always, let me know if you hate it, like it, or any suggestions you might have! :) **

**ps. I updated chapter one again, because I has some slight grammar/word issues. Haven't gotten to recheck chapter 2 or this one yet. **

**Have a lovely day or night! :) please review! I love all feedback!**


	4. Chapter 4-Meri

Well, 100% of pollsters wanted longer weekly updates, so here they are. Thanks to all those who voted! ;) you know who you are :) [also special thanks to Guest you made my day!]

* * *

Meredith looked up from where she was resting her head on Philip's shoulder. They had been sitting in lock up for almost an hour now, it had to be nearing two o'clock and Meredith was exhausted. After exiting the party only to run right into the police, Philip, Meredith and the twenty or so other students the police managed to corral had been put in police vans, shuffled through the precinct and put straight into lock-up. The cell they were in was fairly large, only meant for holding several people overnight. It could've been worse, Meri admitted to herself, at least the jail they were staying in was fairly nice, and as an unexpected bonus they hadn't been booked yet. Meredith shuddered to think of what her dad would say if she got arrested, but then somberly realized she just might get to. "Mer," Philip whispered at her. "Meredith, I think we're getting out of here." She looked at him puzzled. "What? They aren't letting anyone go yet." He nodded, "yeah I know, but I think I heard…" he trailed as a police officer walked up to the cell bars. "Meredith Barton and Philip Stark, you're free to go!" The officer barked. Meri looked at Philip confused, how had he known that? She stood, then she and Philip walked out of the cell. Turning the corner into the main lobby Meredith suddenly understood. Standing outside the police chief's office was a force to be reckoned with. Petite, but with a fierce look about her, Pepper Potts instantly commanded the attention of the room. On any other day, Meri would be happy to see her aunt, but not now. Not when she gave them such a cold look that Meri felt her heart shudder. "Hi mom" Philip said weakly, smiling when they reached her. Pepper didn't return the sentiment, "car. Now." Meri widened her eyes in shock, but obediently turned and walked outside to wear the car was waiting at the front of the precinct. She climbed in the back, and scoot over when Philip joined her. Meri was surprised to find Pepper take the driver's seat, she had expected Happy to be there. Evidently so did Philip, "uh mom? Where's Happy?" he asked. There was a long silence, and Meredith suspected Pepper wasn't ever going to answer. But when she did speak up, it was with a crisp, barely controlled anger, "I thought it would be best not to concern him with family affairs." Philip nodded slightly looking down. The tension was tight in the car. Meredith wanted nothing more than to jump out and take her luck with the subway, but she knew that would only make the situation worse. The silence drug on for a few streets before Pepper took a breath to speak again, "I am awfully disappointed in you Philip Stark, you should know better than to be sneaking into abandoned warehouses to party."

"Mom…" Philip started to explain, "OH don't you _dare_ interrupt me. Do you know that's a class B misdemeanor? It would've gone on your record Philip! Try getting into a good school with that. And heaven knows what the press would do knowing Ironman's son was a criminal! A criminal, Philip! They would have a field day!" Philip started to protest and Meredith could tell it was going to turn into one of their infamous fights. Every month or so they would have the same one. It was always Pepper telling Phil that he needed to be a better influence for the sake of the family company's image and then Philip would tell her off for being too concerned with what the press thought of them. Then Pepper would tell him it's for the sake of the company and Philip would say people would love Stark Industries even if he had a donkey's rear end instead of legs. _Really_, Meri thought, _they're arguments were getting so stale even she could almost argue them by heart_. She tuned them out, gazing out the window where it had started to rain. Watching the droplets race down the car window, she wondered if her mom would've ever gotten mad at her the way Philip's mom does. Then she dismissed the thought. _Her _dad doesn't run a highly successful, publicized business. "And you!" Meredith was jerked out of her thoughts by Pepper's rage turning on her. "m-me?" she stammered. Pepper nodded, "yes you! I thought you had more sense than that? Running around at night doing who know what!" Meredith cinched her eyebrows, "it was just a party..." Pepper glared at her in the rearview mirror. "Just a party? Well I guess we'll see what your father has to say about that." Meredith groaned hitting her head against the car window. A small part of her had hoped that since Pepper picked them up, her dad might not have needed to be told. _So much for that,_ she thought bitterly.

* * *

After a tense car ride and an even more awkward elevator ride, Meredith was more than ready to call it quits and jump right into bed. As the elevator doors opened, Pepper stalked out first heading for the kitchen, she tossed the keys on the counter with a clatter and opened a cabinet pulling down a wine glass. Thinking she was preoccupied, Philip and Meri started tiptoeing to their rooms, only to be cut down. "Uhh I don't think so, you two." Pepper called after them, she pointed to the couch, "sit." Meredith and Philip glanced at each other, then trudged to the couch, sitting in silence, neither daring to talk. Pepper meanwhile, slowly went about her business, selecting a bottle of wine from the cupboard and then slowly pouring a glass. Grabbing a magazine from her purse, she pulled herself out a chair at the bar and sat down. She ignored Philip and Meri, content to sip her drink and flip through her magazine. Moments dragged on, then after sitting in silence for what seemed like ages, Philip spoke up, "Mom? Can we go to bed yet?" he asked hesitantly. Pepper looked around as if surprised to see they were still there, "oh are you tired?" Philip and Meredith nodded, "it's been a long night." Meri said. Pepper nodded, seemingly sympathetic, "It certainly has, but I think you can hold out longer." She turned around as if to end the conversation, but Philip wasn't having it. "Seriously Mom?! Why are we even sitting here?!" He had jumped to his feet and was staring at her angrily. Pepper gave him a look, and then pointed at Meri, "You are sitting there, so you can be sure to tell Clint exactly what happened tonight, and you," she said now pointing at Philip, "are sitting there because you're the one that dragged her into going." Philip opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it and sat down frustrated. "How did she even know that?" He whispered to Meredith. "I don't know-"

"You can sit in silence." Pepper's voice cut over Meri's, "I think it will help you reflect." Philip scowled, leaning back against the couch and crossing his arms in defiance. Meredith meanwhile, wanted nothing more to drop her head in her hands. She was so doomed. She didn't even know what she was going to say to her father, let alone know how he would react. Minutes passed, then hours, it was nearing four thirty when the elevator doors swooshed open. Meredith swallowed, her moment had come and unlike Philip, who was passed out next to her, she had been unable to fall asleep. Pepper had long since finished the magazine and was now working on something at her laptop when Clint Barton stepped out of the elevator. "Some welcome home party this is," he said unimpressed, but with a hint of a smile. "Dad," Meri said standing up from the couch. As much as she dreaded having to do what she was about to, she was relieved to see him home safe. Despite knowing her father was the best at what he did, she always worried about him when he was away. "Meri" he said giving her a smile, "How are things?" She started to say the normal response, that everything was 'good as usual', when Pepper cleared her throat. "Uh.." Meredith hesitated, after all that time waiting she still had no idea how to admit her wrongdoing to her father. Luckily, for Meri, Pepper was impatient enough to tell Clint for her. "Your daughter was arrested." She said flatly. Clint looked from Meredith to Pepper to back to Meredith again in disbelief, "WHAT?!" Meri grimaced looking at the floor, "uh, you see it was just this party and uh… we were maybe trespassing." She glanced up at him from under her eyelids. He just rubbed his forehead sighing, "Okay look, I can't deal with this right now alright?" Meredith shot her head up confused. "I've got to go right back to HQ I just came back because we need Tony for something." Meri took a breath nodding slowly, was she really about to get out of not being punished, because he needed to work? She fought to keep the dawning hope off her face. Clint rubbed his eyes, in frustration or tiredness she couldn't tell, then he sighed looking at her, "Right, I'll deal with this later okay Meri? And you're not getting out of this just because I have to work. I see that look on your face." He crossed his arms looking at her sternly. All the hope Meredith just had vanished out of her. She nodded, doing her best to look chastised. Her father clapped her on the shoulder then brought her into a brief hug. "it's good to see you though." He let go of her and looked towards Pepper, "where's Stark?" he asked. "Down a floor I think" she said glancing at him. "Right, okay." He said turning for the elevator, "hope to see you all soon. And Meredith?" She looked up at her father questioningly. "Try not to get in anymore trouble until I get back." She narrowed her eyes at him as the elevator doors closed on his smiling face. Then she twisted back towards Pepper, who looked at her kindly for the first time since the police station. "Go get some sleep Meri. I'm proud of you." Meredith bolted for her room, not about to give Pepper the chance to rescind the offer. As she retreated to the back hallway, she saw Pepper cover the still sleeping Philip with a blanket. Pepper wasn't so bad, Meri thought. Not really. She just cares. Meredith smiled to herself. She like having someone who cared.


	5. Chapter 5-Luce

Luce groaned, her head feeling like it had been stuffed full of cotton balls and then bashed repeatedly with a hammer. It was the second time she's woken up like that in two days, if this was becoming a habit Luce sure didn't like it. She opened her eyes slowly and then shut them again as a bright light pierced through her retinas. She was hunched over, still wearing her damp clothes, face smack down on a metal table. Her back cramped as she realized she must have been sitting in her current position for a few hours now. Head protesting slightly Luce made a second attempt at straightening up. Her eyes opened and she took in the scene around her. _Metal table, metal chair, nondescript black walls, security camera. _Luce mentally ticked off the setting around her._ An interrogation, how kind of them _she thought_. The only thing missing is… _Luce hesitated and then gave herself a small smile as she realized they found her to be a big enough threat to where she was handcuffed to the table. Honestly, she didn't know whether she should be flattered, or worried about the serious situation she was suddenly in.

"Oh good, you're awake." Agent Coulson said briskly entering the room. Luce controlled herself so as to not wince at the sudden attack the sharp voice made on her head. Coulson came closer to her, and pulled out the chair sitting on the opposite side of the table. He sat down, sliding a water bottle across the table. Luce looked at it and a raised an eyebrow. Coulson sighed but emotionlessly reached back across the table for the water, uncapped it and took a long sip. Swallowing, then putting the bottle back in front of her, he said, "see? Not poisoned." Luce tilted her head back, studying him, "I never said it was, Agent Coulson." She looked him over, puzzled but not showing it she tried to find his angle. _Knock a girl out, then give her water. I just don't get it. _She shook her head mentally. What was their motive? Were they SHIELD? Could it really be back? Her mom hadn't said anything about it and that was something she's surely tell Luce, wasn't it? Luce pursed her lips thinking to herself now, ignoring the agent in the room. Coulson hadn't moved, he just sat there watching her. Luce looked up at him, "you know," she drawled, "if you've got nothing better to do than stare at me, you think I could get some fresh clothes?" She gestured at her outfit, handcuffs clinking, "these have been through a lot." she leaned forward, whispering crinkling her nose, "between you and me, they're starting to smell."

Coulson gave Luce a small smile, "sure thing. You'll need them anyway." He got up and upon reaching the door he turned back to look at her, "between you and me, you might be here a while."

The door shutting behind him, Luce leaned back in her chair scowling at the ceiling. _Now what? _ She thought bitterly,_ "you might be here a while." _ She mocked him in her head. _Stupid cocky agent. What does that even me- Oh no. _A sudden alarm washed over Luce. There was only one reason SHIELD had a reason to keep her on hand. Slowly, filling with anticipation and dread Luce manipulated her chained hands to reach for her pockets. Her fingers grasped her jeans, searching, feeling, but there was nothing. _Nothing. _Luce swallowed, fighting to keep her composure. It was gone. The one thing her mom had entrusted to her, and it was gone.

* * *

Coulson walked into the main bullpen where the taskforce met. One whole half of the room was devoted to rows of personal desks and computers, where several people were sitting, furiously typing away and occasionally whispering comments to one another. The other half of the room was occupied by people discussing the recent case updates and any new leads. At least Coulson hoped they were, he needed his team on task. One women was pulling up files on a touch-board table, and gesturing to it, explaining a something to those gathered around her. In the background accompanying the whole of one wall, was a projector screen. Rows of code appeared on the screen only disappear and then to reappear augmented.

"How are we coming on cracking that drive?" Coulson called to the room asking no one in particular. The USB was a bit of a mystery to him. They found on the girl when they had searched her after Barton knocked her unconscious. They had been hoping for an ID of some kind and certainly weren't expecting the highly encrypted device they got. A tech stood up from behind where he sat at a computer, "It's proving harder than we thought sir." When Coulson just looked at him, he fumbled for a more suitable answer, "That, uh that is, we're working on it, it, uh, it just won't be ready anytime soon." Coulson rubbed his forehead, "you were trained by the greatest computer science minds in the nation, what do you mean it won't be ready?" The tech gulped, looking down, "the code keeps rewriting itself sir, maybe if we had more manpower we could do it in a day, maybe two."

"We don't have that kind of time, Agent!" Coulson barked, frustrated. "You know how fast The Hand works, this could prove vital to their plans!" Coulson spun away from the agent, staring at the wall, realizing what he had to do. He motioned at the agent, "get me Agent Barton." Moments later, Clint walked into the main hub, "You rang?" he said, taking up a position leaning against the wall. "Looks like you'll get to go home soon after all." Coulson said to him, "I need you to bring me Stark."

* * *

Coulson cracked open the door to interrogation, opening it slowly then adopting a casual manner he walked in and plopped down on the chair across from the girl. She barely spared him a glance when he walked in and had quickly resumed to staring blankly at the ceiling. She had changed, and was now outfitted in navy sweatpants and a grey t-shirt with the SHIELD logo emblazoned on the front. Phil couldn't tell if she was happy or made about the turn of events, her face was an emotionless mask. Which frustrated him a bit, the fact that he wasn't able to read her easily. He _should _be able to, he was an agent of SHIELD after all, and yet she continued to defy him. Which was annoying to say the least. Not that he would let her know though. No, two could play that game. Even if he didn't know her motive, he did know she was an operator. She knew she was caught and although she gave up her act from earlier, there was no telling when, if ever, she'd give up the rest of her secrets. "It seems I'm at a disadvantage miss." The girl turned her head looking at Coulson as he spoke, "you see, you know my name, and I don't know yours." The girl cocked an eyebrow, opening her mouth to speak, "but you see," she said, "you know why I'm here and I don't. It seems I am at the disadvantage." Coulson gazed at her evenly, "tell me why you think you here." The girl stretched her shoulders smiling warmly at him, "well, I'd like to think you're just a nice group of people who saw a poor wet girl on the street and brought her in to warm her up. But these," she raised her hands, showing off the handcuffs, "kind of ruin the illusion." Coulson sat back, studying her now. The girl in front of him, was different from the girl he saw on the television monitors. That girl, the one on the interrogation live feed, had been a tired teen, doing her best to look disinterested in the world. She had been sad-looking, almost pathetic in the sweats that dwarfed her smaller frame. Not everyone saw it of course, but Phil had years on the job, he was good at seeing through acts. Though, the girl now in front of him, was nothing like the girl from the monitor. This one, was cocky and self-absorbed. She radiated indifference, rattling off one-liners as though she was handcuffed to a chair every day. She was seemingly unconcerned with the situation she was in. It was as though the monitor girl never even existed. She had existed though, and Phil had saw it. Now he just had to figure out which girl was the act, and which one was real.

A knock on the door broke Coulson's concentration, but he ignored it. A second knock banged across the door. The girl raised an eyebrow, "I think it's for you." Coulson gave her a look before getting up and exiting the room, the girl gazing after him the entire time.

Coulson slammed the door to interrogation shut behind him. "Whatever this is, it had better be good." Coulson threatened to the agent who was standing just outside the door, fist raised ready to knock again. The agent nodded several times, "We cracked the USB, sir. Thought you'd want to know." Coulson stopped mid-rage having been readying his lecture mode, "Oh." Nodding his thanks to the agent, he started off down the hall at a brisk pace. Throwing open the doors to the bullpen Coulson took in the scene around him. Tony Stark was standing in the center of the room, surrounded by the few agents brave enough to strike up a conversation with the millionaire-turned-superhero. Off to the side, Agent Barton was leaning back in a chair, hands on his head in a state of shock. Hushed whispers created an ominous background as though something dreadful had just happened. "What's.." Phil started to say, "Agent!" Stark yelled across the room, his arms wide, "You're gonna want to see this." He said. Coulson tentatively crossed the room, eyeing Barton who was staring blankly at the wall, wondering what happened, "see what, exactly?" He asked suspiciously. Tony snapped his fingers, "the contents of that marvelous drive of course. Your agents didn't know at all what they were doing, took me a matter of seconds to crack it. You should really pay them better, offer incentives." Tony looked at Coulson from under his eyebrows, while Phil just gave him a look. "Right. Anyway," Tony continued, spinning around to face the giant projection screen. "Hit it Galactica" he said snapping at a blonde haired agent. The agent typed a key on his computer and the screen went dark before a face suddenly appeared. A very familiar face. Coulson stepped back in shock, one he hadn't seen in over a decade.

Projected on screen, was the face a woman, porcelain skin, with green eyes and fiery red hair, she looked not a day over thirty. Although Coulson knew she was much older than that by now. The women on screen smiled, as the video started playing. Then, the Black Widow spoke. "I'll give you a moment to get over your shock Tony." She cocked her head, waited a second and then began again, "I know what you're thinking, and no I'm not dead. This recording is only in case I can't make it to Stark Tower in time, which evidently, if you're watching this I didn't." She paused again here, as if contemplating the idea she had not made it, "I know you're wondering what happened that day I disappeared… and it's complicated. All you need to know right now, is that I was taken by the terrorist organization called The Hand. Coulson will know what I'm talking about, we had started investigating them before, well, before I got pregnant. Apparently I wasn't out of the field soon enough so as to not have made any enemies within the organization, they're the ones who were responsible for what happened." She paused looking over her shoulder as though hearing something in the background, she turned back around speaking briskly now, "look I have to wrap this up, so here's the deal: the girl who handed you this drive, I'm sure she looks familiar to you, but she isn't who you think, her name's Lucille, she's my daughter and she has a twin, who I'm sure you know. The fact is, I have to be gone a while and deal with some things. Things I don't want to drag her into, so I need you to look after her for a little while. I'll owe you one. Secondly, take this USB to Coulson. I've compiled a list of everything I know about the organization The Hand, some of it was hard to come by, so take care not to lose it. Okay? And finally, Luce? Be good, and listen to Tony." And with that, Natasha Romanoff faded away and the screen went black.

Coulson stood there, staring at the empty screen in shock. _Natasha Romanoff was kidnapped? And she's alive? _Coulson's mind reeled, after that fateful day in the hospital, they had all assumed she just skipped town. Sure, it was hard to take in, not to mention out of character but how else would you explain a sudden power outage in the maternity ward, and the sudden disappearance of the laboring mother. A mother who left behind a dumbfounded fiancé and a nameless newborn daughter? Coulson rubbed his chin, it did explain a lot though, not everything but a lot. He glanced at Tony, who before was grinning wildly, but now had a puzzled look on his face. "What?" Coulson asked, bracing himself for more news. Stark just shook his head, "I don't understand, how did you come by the drive? Where is Lucille? Where's the girl who's supposed to have given me this?" Coulson stared at him blankly, _Lucille… Lucille… the girl. THE GIRL. _Coulson started suddenly, "she's in interrogation." He said weakly. Tony raised his eyebrows, "we thought she was The Hand, it's complicated." Coulson attempted to explain. Tony just nodded, "Right, so we gonna go get my niece out of there or…?" At those words, Clint Barton groaned. Coulson turned around, having momentarily forgotten he was there. Barton sat up, "can we just, can we just leave her there for a minute so I can get this sorted in my head?" Coulson grimaced, feeling guilty, if _he_ was shocked, he couldn't imagine how Clint must feel. Suddenly discovering that the fiancée you'd written off was back, and you suddenly have another teenage daughter can't be good for you. "Someone get Agent Barton some water," Coulson called out. "No." Clint held up a hand, "no I'm good. I just needed a minute." He stood up, shaking his head slightly. "Lead on," he said gesturing towards the door, "as long as this kid doesn't get in trouble with the police, I'm sure we'll be fine."

* * *

Luce was just picking open the lock on her second handcuff when the door burst open, and three people marched in. She recognized Coulson and Agent Barton, and then got a small shock of surprise when she realized the third man was none other than the infamous Tony Stark. _Well this just got interesting, _she thought. Luce gazed at them evenly as they trooped in, Agent Barton, she noticed, hung closer to the door while Coulson and Stark stopped just in front of her chair. Luce cocked an eyebrow, "well if you're going to do me in with Ironman, I could think of worse ways to go." She gave Stark a small smile, who, to his credit, looked positively alarmed. Coulson sighed, "It seems there's been a development." He trailed off not finishing the thought. Luce, who hadn't been panicking before, now certainly felt the concern rise in her chest. She hastily resumed trying to pick the second lock under the table, taking care so as to not let the agents see. "A development?" She asked, "a good one I hope." Tony Stark snorted at that and she glared at him. Then she turned her eyes back to Coulson who seemed to be struggling for words. He pinched his nose between his fingers, then taking a breath he looked at her and said, "We've managed to crack your mother's USB device." He looked at her, anticipating a reaction of some sort, but Luce did nothing. She felt the lock click free, and then slowly leaned back, giving herself room to make a move if need be. "My mother…" she said evenly, vying for time. Coulson nodded, while Agent Barton softly mumbled to himself, putting his head in his hands. "Oh geez, this is taking forever," Stark said impatiently, taking a step forward towards Luce, "Look kid, Lucille or whatever your name is, your mother gave you a USB drive to give to me, which I only have because SHIELD took it from you. Your mom encoded a video on it and she told us all about you and her and The Hand and all that good stuff. So you can drop the standoffish act kiddo." Luce's mouth fell open. She couldn't help it. There was simply no way her mom had made a video that would tell these people _everything_. Simply no way. Although, she had told Luce to give it to Stark, and Luce knew her mom worked with Stark in the past. Still, she blinked unbelieving, "If, if she told you everything, then..." Luce hesitated here, unsure of what she was going to say next. Her whole world was crashing down around her. The feeling of having these people, these people she didn't even know, know all her secrets, was just _wrong. _Luce closed her mouth, then opened it again, struggling for words. "Oh look great Stark you've scared her." Agent Barton came forward angrily. He glared at Tony, then turned to Luce and studied her as if seeing her for the first time, "uh, Look Lucille.."

"It's Luce." She snapped at him, shooting him a look. She wasn't scared, how dare he think that. Agent Barton recoiled, then recovered, "okay… Luce. Your mom she didn't tell us everything. Despite what Stark said. She only gave us information on The Hand, all she said about you was" he paused here, "all she said was that you're her daughter." He gazed at her evenly, which Luce somehow found reassuring. There was something different about Agent Barton this time, something that hadn't been there the last time they met. Luce nodded slowly, the world that had slowly been crumbling down, reversed flow and was building back up again. _So they don't know_, she thought, _that's good. A relief, really. _She shook her head trying to organize her thoughts. So Tony Stark had gotten the drive like her mother wanted, SHIELD evidently _did_ exist and that's where she was now, but that didn't explain why they picked her up in the first place. Unless… unless they thought _she _was The Hand. Luce scoffed inwardly. Ironic really, but it makes sense. SHIELD would've investigated the accident, they would've known it was The Hand and since she was the sole witness to the accident, they would've wanted to speak with her. And then of course it only looked suspicious when she left the hospital in the middle of the night, which would've prompted the pick-up. Luce nodded to herself, agreeing with the explanation of events.

World mostly back in order, Luce looked up at Agent Coulson, new questions bubbling on her mind. "What now?" she asked, "You got what you wanted, my mission's complete, can I go now?" She stood crossing her arms, Luce didn't care if they saw she wasn't handcuffed, they didn't think her an enemy anymore. Barton moved from where he had been standing in front of her and shook his head upon seeing the open handcuffs Luce had placed on the table. Stark took a step back blinking, "what?" he said, "All that and you're just going to leave?" Luce shrugged, she didn't have any reason to stick around. Tony wasn't having it though, "You're not even going to meet the rest of the family?" He asked exasperated. _That _confused Luce, she looked at him puzzled. "Are you a psychic or something? Because unless you know something I don't, the only family I've got is on the run from a terrorist organization right now." Tony looked like he was going to say something else, when Coulson grabbed his arm and whispered something in his ear. Luce still heard him though "_she doesn't know". _What didn't she know? What were they hiding? Luce looked at Barton for guidance but he had resumed to leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the ceiling. Coulson turned and looked at Luce, concern written over his face, "There's something your mother didn't tell you."

* * *

alright then, story's moving right along. I definitely rewrote this chapter at least four times, so I hope you it guys like it and it lives up to your expectations :) Okay so I know Meri's chapter was really short and I apologize, but I promise she'll get more page time in the coming chapters ;) So expect a new update this time next week! :D odds are I won't post earlier, but you never know. And if I'm a day late I apologize, but please stick with me! :) send me a review and let me know what you hate/love. Reviews make my week! ahah :) thanks, peeps- Cecily out. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, better late than never!**

Luce sat in shock, staring at the image of her mother on the laptop screen. "I don't understand" she said numbly. Coulson, Stark and Baron exchanged looks, unsure of where to begin. Barton stepped forward, and took a seat next to Luce. They were no longer in the interrogation room, but had moved to a more spacey, yet still private, conference room. "uh, your mom.." Barton began softly, "she was engaged once." Luce looked at him confused, "she's been engaged loads of times." she said bluntly. Agent Barton winced at that, "no, I mean for real. Like, with every intent to actually marry the man." Luce gazed at him, surely he was lying. She couldn't even begin to imagine her mother in love. Luce had always assumed she was an accident, and surely never happened because her mother was, _in love_. She shook her head, "but who was he? My father, I mean." Barton sucked in a breath, ready to respond, "Is." Coulson interrupted. "Who your father _is_. He's still alive Luce, and he's sitting right in front of you." Luce jerked her head around turning to stare at Agent Barton. She looked at the man who had brought her here. She took in his solid frame, and battle-weary eyes. "You're my father." She said flatly. He nodded, not breaking her gaze. "You were going to tranq me." Barton opened his mouth and protest, "okay, hey now," he said holding up a hand, "you were the one that ran suspiciously. It was my job to bring you in." It was Luce's turn to look offended, "_I _was the one that was suspicious? Not the two grown government agents that tracked down a teenage girl in the middle of the night?" She raised her eyebrow at him. Barton sat back, sighing. "Semantics really," Stark broke in, "but you're not asking the more important question." Luce shoots him a confused look. "Who your sister is." He explained. "What?!" Luce said incredulously, "I have _a sister?_" She gives Barton a disapproving look. As if it was his fault she had a sister she never knew about. Of course, logically Luce knew that it wasn't his fault, you can't control these things and plus, she didn't even know he existed until a moment ago. But still. Luce sat back in shock. In a matter of seconds her family had just tripled and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. _Well, _Luce amended, _at least I know Barton's a jerk. Throwing his weight around. _She scoffs to herself. But who knows about this mystery twin. Luce had never even thought about having a sibling before, she was just too busy staying alive to ever have time to wonder.

"Luce," Agent Coulson says gently, "I know this is a bit of a shock for you." Luce shakes her head, "No. I'm good." Luce _was_ shocked, but she wasn't about to let them know. Coulson seems slightly taken aback, "uh, alright. We just have some questions for you if you're up for them." _This can't be good. _Luce thought. "Okay." she said hesitantly, her mind already drawing up covers and back-up covers. _They may think they're my family, but they've got a long way to go before they earn my trust. _"Right." Takes the seat across Luce, "We just think it's important that we get all the facts." She raises and eyebrow at him, "the facts?"

"You know, where you've been, what you've been up to. That sort of thing." Luce narrows her eyes at him, "I don't really see why it's any of your business." Coulson blinks at her, as if he wasn't expecting her resistance. As if he was expecting her to break down like the normal teenager she's not, and tell him all about the hard life she's lead on the run with her mother. Barton lets out an annoyed sigh, "Look." He leans forward, "Natasha has been on the run for seventeen years, SHIELD just wants to know what she's been up to and why she didn't come back."

"And you think I'm supposed to know that?!" Luce asks shocked. She does of course, know exactly what she's been up to, having been right beside her mother the whole time. But she wouldn't tell them, ever. That would just lead to questions about her past that Luce wasn't sure she could handle. "Well she's _your _mother." Stark pipes in. "Well she was _your_ spy." Luce shoots right back. Then she makes her face go soft, "Listen, I don't know what my mom's been up to. All I know is that we were constantly moving around and she was always busy with whatever work she had." She shrugs, as if to play off the fact that that was just how her mother operates and it didn't bother her. "Weren't you curious?" Coulson asks, "Didn't you want to know why Natasha made you move around so much?" Luce glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed as if thinking. "No," she decided, "I mean, I got to travel way more than the other kids at school, and plus Mom is like, the worst disciplinarian." She laughs a little, that much is true. Her mom never could keep a punishment that she doled out. Then again, when you're fighting for your life, being grounded seems to pale in comparison. "Did you? Go to school I mean" Coulson questions. "Of course!" she acts insulted, "I'm not a barbarian! And it's kind of the law." Another half-truth, Luce admits. If you count learning math in order to break into a complex safe, and PE as learning the best way to take down a man more than twice your size, then yeah, she went to school. _Plus, _Luce thinks, _Mom did always make me read the classics on the long train rides from Russia to France. _She sat back, giving them a wide-eyed innocent look. She wasn't quite sure if they believed it, but it will have to do for now. She waited a moment, but when no one said anything she stood up, "look if that's all I really should be going."

"Whoa, you're not going anywhere." Barton says from his chair. She huffs, shifting her weight, "Yeah well, I kind of have a mom to find, so unless there's going to be anything else.." She drifts off, heading for the door to the conference room, just as it bursts open. Luce stops in her tracks staring at the young agent, he ignores her though, only having eyes for Coulson. "Sir, we've had a breakthrough with the intel. We've found a base." Coulson immediately goes on high alert, "where?"

"Not far," the agent says, "It's in Charlottesville." Coulson nods his dismissal, and the agent leaves, out the door and back down the hall. He smiles at the group, "Things are finally getting interesting."

"You mean they weren't interesting enough already?" Clint says, standing up, stretching. Coulson just grins at him, "gear up. Wheels up in ten." Then he too leaves down the hall. Obviously having more important things to think about than Luce.

Barton just shakes his head mumbling and saunters after him. Luce sees her opportunity and quickly follows at his heels. "Whoa," he turns suddenly so that Luce almost runs into him, "where do you think you're going?" She gives him a confused look, "with you… to take down The Hand and possibly find my mom." Clint steps back and cocks an eyebrow looking at her up and down, "uh huh. And are you going to tell me what makes you think you're qualified to take on a level seven operation?" Luce opens her mouth to retort, thinks better of it and then shuts it frustrated. Clint just nods, "That's what I thought." He sighs, "Go home with Stark, kid. You look exhausted." She crosses her arms, defiant. "I'm fine, thank you." Clint shakes his head, and continues walking. Just before entering a door on the far side, he turns to look at her, "One day you'll find you can trust us, Luce." With that he leaves, off to lay siege to a terrorist organization.

Luce scowls at the empty air where her father was just standing. Setting her jaw, she turned to head back into the recently vacated conference room. It's not really like she had a choice to go back with Stark. _There's always a choice Luce,_ a voice spoke up from the back of her head. _Yeah well it would be a stupid choice to go back to that dingy motel._ She told it. It's not like she had any worldly belongings to go back for. Plus, Stark's place was sure to have better amenities.

* * *

Meri was sitting on the couch next to Philip in the Stark Tower living room, busy trying to convince him why it would be a bad idea to create a machine that would set off indoor fireworks, _"think of the parties, Meri!" "You'll set everything on fire, Phil"_ when the doors to the living room opened. She saw Tony first, and smacked at Philip to put his blueprints away. Tony had noticed though, but he only winked. Tony was always content to let Phil draw up blueprints and build his inventions. Heck, the only time Philip _wasn't_ allowed downstairs in the lab was when Uncle Bruce was over. Meredith smiled at her sort-of uncle, but the grin slipped off her face when she saw the girl who had walked in behind him. She was a sorry looking thing, with her oversized sweatpants and shirt and her hair all frizzy as though she'd been out in the rain. Which, Meri supposed was highly likely given the torrential downpours they'd been having all week. She paused though, when the she finally got a good look at her face. "What the—" Philip started to say, but Tony shut him down with a cutting look. "This is Luce." He said bluntly, putting his hand on the girl's shoulder, "she'll be staying with us for a bit." The girl, Meredith had to note, looked none too pleased with the situation. She had quickly shrugged off Tony's hand and was busy staring around the room, trying to look everywhere but at Meredith it seemed. Meri couldn't blame her, she'd think it's odd too if you walked into some house just to see your doppelganger stare back at you. Tony nudged Luce in the back, "go on, say hi to you sister." Luce looked up at him glaring, and looked at Meri with her teeth gritted "Hi." She managed. Had Meri, been holding something, she would've dropped it. "Excuse me?!" She asked voice raised. _Sister? _She thought, _Oh I don't think so. The girl looked like a piece of work. She couldn't even say hi very nicely._ Meredith grumbled inwardly. _Who cares if she looks exactly like me? Doesn't make her related!_ Meredith glowered back at the girl and then at Tony. Philip just sat there next to here, eyes wide going from Meri to Luce back to Meri again as though he was watching a soap opera. Tony backed a way slightly, sensing her rage, "yeah it's a cool story actually. But you know, I have a lot of work to do, so I'm gonna let Luce tell it." He retreated back towards the elevator, "have fun!" he said almost a little too gleefully as the elevator doors shut on his face.

There was silence in the room. Luce just stood there, unsure of what to do, and Meri was in a total state of shock. Her whole life, she'd been an only child. Never once had her father mentioned any siblings, not even a hint. And then suddenly this girl shows up? Who is apparently her identical twin? She just didn't get it. As if sensing the sudden tension in the room, Philip stood up, "well, you know, it's well passed lunch, and I'm starved. So why don't we move this little reunion into the kitchen and I can make us some pasta." Meri gave him a grateful look, sighed, and then smiled brightly at Luce, "well, I'm hungry, you coming?" Meri had just then resolved to make the best of this situation. Maybe it was the fact the girl looked utterly pathetic, but Meri wasn't about to take out her rage on the girl. Right then at least. _I mean_, she thought, _I've always imagined having a twin. So now it's like a dream come true! Right?_ She tried to convince herself. _Then again, she could turn out to be a psycho-murderer clone or something. _Meredith shook the idea out of her head. Of course she isn't. No matter how much she glares around the room. Who she is, remains a mystery, one that Meredith needed the answers to. Philip was already banging pots around in the kitchen when she and Luce had situated themselves on the barstools, across from the stove. "Soooo" Meredith began, looking at Luce. "Soooo" she replied, giving Meri a small smile. Meredith narrowed her eyes at Luce, trying to decide if she was being mocked. Then realizing it probably didn't matter. That her dad would come home and fix this mess, she said, "uh I'm Meredith, or Meri" she gestured to wear Philip was standing in the kitchen, filling up a copper pot, "and uh, our sous-chef over there is Philip." Meri smiled at Luce hoping for her to laugh maybe, but she just nodded. Philip looked up from where he was stirring a boiling pot of something, "you can call me Phil if you want, most people just call me Philip though, on account of Uncle Coulson." Recognition dawned in Luce's eyes. "You know him?" Meredith probed. "Uh yeah," Luce said, "He's sort of the one that found me" Meri's eyes knotted in confusion, but she was saved having to ask by Philip's interruption, "So what is the deal with you anyway? I mean, it's not like Meri's identical twin just pops up every day…" Luce sits back in her chair, "I mean it's complicated..." Meredith raises an eyebrow. "Inquiring minds want to know" She smiles at Luce, who is too busy lost in thought to partake in the joke. "Uh, Earth to Luce?" Meri waved her hand in that direction, Luce's head snapped back around, "seriously, who _are_ you? Are you really my sister? And if so where's our mother and how do you even _exist?" _ Luce sighs, biting her lip, "umm well, what exactly do you know?" Meri looks at her frustrated, "What do you mean what do _I _know? You're the one with all the answers!" Luce looks affronted, "I just mean, what do you know about our mother and her disappearance! Like, do I have to start all the way at the beginning or what?!" Meri looks down at the spaghetti Philip just placed in front of her "oh." She picked up her fork and began twirling her noodles, embarrassed. Luce just kept looking at her expectantly, ignoring her food. After a moment, Meri put down her fork and turned to Luce, "I know my mother is the Black Widow and I know she left when I was just a baby. I've been raised here, by my dad ever since." It wasn't a bad life. Meri loved living at Stark Tower, (they always had the latest gadgets) and she was constantly surrounded by cool people. It gave her quite a bit of pull in the school social ladder, which Meredith definitely used to her advantage. Sure, there might have been a bit of stigma because it looked like her mom abandoned the Avengers, but Meri didn't let it bother her. Of course, the appearance of Luce, definitely means her mother's still alive and out there somewhere. Meredith looked at Luce out of the corner of her eye. She was looking down at her food, avoiding eye contact. "uh, you know what your dad does for a living?" Luce asked hesitantly. Meri laughed at that, "duh! He's an avenger! What do you think I live under a rock? We're in Stark Tower for cryin out loud!" Luce looked offended, her face turning red, but the large amount of spaghetti in her mouth prevented her from responding right away. Swallowing, she mumbled "well how was I supposed to know that?" Meri sighed. _Gosh, this girl was thick. _Philip, who had been watching the exchange with interest now spoke up, "Are you going to get to the good stuff yet, or do I have time for a bathroom break?" Meri and Luce shot him identical glares. His eyes widened, "geez you guys barely know each other five minutes and you're already in sync." Meredith rolled her eyes at that, but looked at Luce expectantly, ready to hear just what the hell was going on.

* * *

Luce toyed with her spaghetti as Meredith and Philip watched her. She didn't really know where to begin. _I mean, _she thought, _it's evident that Meredith __is_ _my sister, Mom wouldn't lie about that. She was always adamant about not lying to family… So where does that put me? I obviously can't tell her about The Hand, and what they did, but I can't lie to her either. Not like I can lie to SHIELD. Them I don't care about. _Luce pondered her peculiar situation. One she had never ever really expected to be in. She never imagined being able to tell the truth to someone, or even, heaven forbid, _wanting_ to tell the truth to someone. She'd always just saw her life as eternally on the run. Had resigned herself to the fact she was probably going to die young. But then, here she was sitting in the kitchen of her apparent sister's home. Realizing now, that she had been taking too long to respond, Luce hurriedly swallowed her last bite of spaghetti, "Right… so… our mom" Luce hesitated, then more determined, ploughed on, "She was taken, kidnapped from the hospital where you were born." Luce braced herself for the explosions of disbelief, but they didn't happen. She looked at Meri, who was just nodding, "makes sense," she was saying half to herself, "I mean, everyone knows she had a lot of enemies." She glanced at Philip, who nodded agreeing. Then Meredith looked back at Luce, eager for more information, "so who was it? That nabbed her?" Luce blinked at their sudden acceptance, but didn't hesitate, "they're a terrorist group, known as The Hand. I ended up being born right away in the back of the van they had tied her up in. They didn't know she was expecting twins." Luce added the last bit as an afterthought. She bit her lip looking down. Avoiding eye contact, begging that they wouldn't ask what happened next. Begging that they wouldn't ask why The Hand wanted Natasha Romanoff. And what happened to Luce after. She cringed inwardly thinking about it. She didn't even talk to her mom about it, but then, her mom could relate. She understood. There were no words to describe what happened, what they did. She never had to speak about it aloud and hoped she would never have to. After some moments passed, she slowly looked up. Meredith, it seemed, was lost in thought. She had gotten up and was rinsing the dishes ever so slowly. Philip had whipped out his rather high-tech cell phone and was scrolling down the screen. Seeing something that caught his eye, Philip looked at Luce and opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by the sudden arrival of Pepper. "Mom," he said cautiously eyeing his mother, who was staring at Luce.

Luce regarded the women coolly. So this was Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. She must have already been in the penthouse, because Luce never heard the elevator doors open. Pepper had paused after she rounded the corner into the kitchen, and slowly placed her tablet on the counter when she noticed there were suddenly two of Meri. She put her hand up to her ear, "Tony, could I see you up here for a moment please." She said in a way-too-nice-to-be-sincere voice. Then turned to Luce and smiled warmly, "Hi there, I'm Pepper." Luce was taken aback by the candor of her voice, "uh, hi. Pepper looked Luce up and down, noticing the oversize sweats, mussed hair, and bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. Just then the elevators dinged open and Tony walked out into the living room, "what is it Potts? Oh-" he stopped short, taking in the scene in the kitchen. Pepper raised her eyebrows at him, "A word please?" She walked over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder and turning him around so their backs were to the kitchen. Tony lowered her head so she could whisper in his ear. They were trying to make it so that the teenagers in the kitchen couldn't hear. _A futile attempt, really,_ Luce thought straining her ears to listen. She only caught snatches:

"why is Meri's twin in my kitchen Tony"

"funny story that-"

"Tony" He looked back, and noticing everyone staring he lowered his voice,

"… Romanaoff… back… Clint…on assignment"

"why…"

"…keep an eye…"

_CLANG! _There was a sudden loud noise and Luce whipped around to stare back at the kitchen where Philip was standing sheepishly over the metal pot he had just dropped. Meredith rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him. Luce said nothing, and tried to tune back into the adult's conversation, but it was too late. Tony had disappeared back down to the labs and Pepper was walking over to them. "Hey, Luce," she said kindly, "I heard you've had a rough night. Why don't you wash up, while I fix up our guestroom? And don't worry about clothes," Pepper said reassuringly as Luce had tugged on her sweatpants, "I'm sure you can borrow something of Meri's, right Mer?" Pepper gave Meredith a look. "Yup!" she responded a little too brightly. Pepper smiled at Luce, who allowed herself to be guided down the hall. Just as they were rounding the corner, Pepper called back over her shoulder, "and try not to break any more pots Phil!"

**well, voila. They've met! Right, so I wrote the first bit on a different day than the rest, so if it seemed off or discontinuous please let me know ASAP! Um this was really hard to write, because I like, wanted to say everything they thought about each other, but have to hold it back. build the suspense ;) So next chapter we'll see more of the Avengers I think and yeah more Clint cause I like him. ahaha Please tell me what you think in a review? Hate it? Brilliant! Love it? Even better! Have a suggestion/request/comment? You're my hero! ahah right, till next time!**

**-Cecily **


	7. Chapter 7

_She was running down a corridor, trying frantically to be silent, knowing her pursuer was just a step __behind. She raced past closed doorways not bothering to try and open them, knowing they would be locked. Desperately she pushed a maid's cart behind her, hoping to slow down her opponent, but there was no crash. She turns a corner, and then suddenly she's no longer running down the hall, but is in a dimly lit room. She stops running, glances behind her, and sees a blank wall. Somehow she knows she is in one of the suites. Silently she creeps toward the master bed, where two still forms are under the covers. She grips the cold metal in her hand, slowly, silently raising the heavy weapon as she creeps ever closer. But there is a sudden creak as the floor gives way, and the figure in the bed bolts upwards. They lock eyes, the man is older, in his fifties nearly and vastly overweight. He stares at her unblinkingly, challenging. But she doesn't hesitate. A quick twitch of the finger and the man falls back, never to rise again. In the echoing silence, she hears the scream. The second figure had woken up, noticed the body and her voice is shrill, calling for him. She looks at the women. Barely a women, so young and pretty, she stares up at the gun, her eyes begging, pleading. The killer hesitates, only barely, but another twitch of the finger and the girl's body takes its place beside her lovers. _

Luce woke with a start, a silent scream, dying on her lips, confused at where she was. She lay immobile in bed letting her eyes adjust to the dark. The last remnants of the nightmare slipped from her mind, and she let them go willingly. It was always the same one. Same place, same face, and same outcome. Luce shook her head attempting to rid herself of the memory. _So young, _Luce thought _we were so young. _There was a sudden noise from outside the room, and Luce jumped, startled. Eyes having finally adjusted, and memories of yesterday having rushed back she realized she was sleeping in a queen bed, in borrowed pajamas, in the penthouse suite of Stark Tower. There was another noise, and a whispered curse from down the hall. Luce slowly got up from the bed, and padded across the floor to the door. Someone was attempting to sneak through the kitchen, and from Luce's experience, that generally wasn't a good thing. She turned the knob on the guest bedroom, cracking the door. Seeing no lights on, she silently crept down the hall to the kitchen. A broad form was hunched over near the coffee table in the adjoining living room. "Dammit Pepper, always moving crap." Luce paused, _that voice is eerily familiar. _She squinted through the dark, then suspicions confirmed, flipped the nearest light switch. "ARGH!" Clint Barton gasped at the sudden brightness and covered his eyes. Wincing through the light he glared at Luce, "Meri? Or is that Luce? I can't tell after you damaged my retinas." Luce smirked and leaned up against the kitchen counter, "You know, for a spy you aren't very sneaky." Clint stood straight now, and shot her a look, "You know, if Pepper didn't keep moving stuff, we'd be fine." Luce cocked an eyebrow and gave him a small chuckle, "excuses." she muttered under her breath. Hawkeye heard her though, and shot her another glare, "What are you even doing up right now? It's one in the morning!" Luce shrugged nonchalantly, "What are you doing stumbling around in the dark?"

"I live here." He said.

"I thought you were in Charlottesville?" Clint just sighed, and walked over to where she was in the kitchen. Luce noticed now that he was still in his combat suit, he winced slightly, as he reached up to the cabinets for a bowl. "Yeah, well mission's over. I guess The Hand is wimpier than we thought." He answered. Luce looked at him unbelieving as he winced again reaching for the freezer, "is that so?" she said dryly. He didn't respond but stood there scooping his ice cream, he offered her the container, but she shook her head. "Suit yourself." He shrugged, returning the ice cream to the freezer and taking up a position sitting at the bar. Moments of silence passed, and Luce made no effort to return to her bed. There was no way she was going to fall asleep readily now. And, though she was hesitant to admit it, she found Clint's presence comforting. Finally, after wolfing down a couple mouthfuls of Neapolitan, Clint looks up at her, "So tell, me why are you up? Because unless you've got a habit of waking up and running out in the middle of the night, there's got to be a reason." Luce scoffed, _if only he knew. _Then she turned more somber, thinking. Clint merely regarded her expectantly. Luce looked at the man who was supposedly her father. Remembered what he said to her last, "_One day you'll find you can trust us" _She wanted so deeply to have someone else to confide in, especially now that her mother was MIA. Could it be this man? Her father? She took in his relaxed pose as he munched on his ice cream. Somehow, sitting in this dimly lit kitchen, was a completely different man from the one she first saw threatening her in an alley. Luce took a breath, and made a split-second decision, hoping it was the right one. "Nightmares."

Clint looks at her softly, and nods understandingly. Then he waits for her to elaborate. Luce takes in another breath and slowly walks to where he is sitting, "about…" she hesitates, then takes the plunge, "about the first time I killed a man." She looks at him, afraid to break his gaze, ready to jump into action if he makes a move for her. Barton had paused eating, spoon halfway to his mouth, "who?"

"An old man, and his mistress."

"Why?"

"I was told to." Clint looks at her sharply when she said those words. Then he sets his jaw and looks forward, staring at nothing.

"By who? Natasha?" There is a barely controlled rage in his voice, and it scares her. Luce shakes her head slowly, trying not to make any deliberate movements, "No."

"Then who?"

"The Hand." The words are out of Luce before she can stop them. As much as she wanted to trust her father, she still had hesitations. It was no good now, of course. Her biggest secret was out of the bag. Heart rate increasing, Luce stared at Clint, body posed to bolt at a moment's notice. He looked at her in disbelief suddenly tense, ice cream forgotten. He noticed her defensive stance, but didn't relax. "Get dressed." He barked. Luce blinked, "what?"

"Get. Dressed. Now." Luce paused a moment, then fled down the hall to the guest bedroom. Her mind racing a thousand miles a minute. There was no way out of the tower, at least that she knew of. The only way in or out of the penthouse was the elevator, and that meant she would have to find a way around Barton. Her mind drew up plan after plan as she threw on the borrowed jeans Pepper had taken from Meri. She tied the laces on her boots as she realized the only way to escape was to go along with Barton, until she got to the first floor. Then she would have to knock him out and run. Luce choked back the sudden fear and adrenaline. She could barely admit it to herself, but she liked it here. Even after just a few hours, and most of them spent sleeping, Luce could tell this was a safe and warm place. She had even dared to think she might be able to stay for a while. And now that vision was all ruined because of her stupid decision to trust someone she just met. _Idiot Luce, _she told herself, _you know better than that. _Clothes on, Luce took one last glance around the room, wishing for an escape, but then walked back out into the kitchen. Clint had moved. He was standing by the elevator doors now, and when he noticed her, he quickly hung up the phone he was talking on. He jerked his head towards the doors, "Let's go" he said gruffly. Luce quickened her pace and joined him.

_DING. _The elevator had reached the bottom floor. Luce had been slowly moving ever so closer to the doors, and now as they moved open, she sprang into action, running for the outside. "HEY!" Clint shouted and ran after her, but she didn't pause and didn't look back. Until a hand closed around her arm. Luce was jerked off her feet and she struggled, pushing against his chest. It was no use, Clint was too strong and he just shook her until she stopped, then quickly marched her through the rest of the lobby and into a black SUV that was waiting just outside. Opening the back door and tossing her inside, Barton climbed in the front passenger side, and then turned to glare at her, "What's the big idea huh?!" Luce said nothing, just set her jaw and glared back at him. Clint rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the agent in the driver's seat, "Step on it." The car zoomed away from the curb, Luce turned and looked out the window; they were still in New York City. Maybe if she managed to open the door, she could get away… _and then what Luce? You've got no money, no resources. _A little voice piped up in the back of her head, doubting, but she squashed it instantly. She'd find a way. There was always a way. The car slowed, stopped at a traffic light. Sensing her moment, she slowly moved her hand to the door handle, and pulled it. But the door didn't pop open like she'd hoped it would. Apparently, they had thought though this little kidnapping enough to lock the doors. Sitting back in defeat, Luce felt someone watching her. She looked up to meet Clint's eyes in the mirror. He smirked at her and she scowled back at him. Knowing the ride back to SHIELD would take some time, Luce accepted that there was no way out at the current moment, and turned her head, attempting to get some sleep. To rest, and store her energy for when she'd need it later.

Luce jolted awake when the door she was leaning her head on was abruptly opened. There was a sudden vice-like grip on her arm, and a figure reached over to unbuckle her seat belt and pull her out of the car. "Let's go." Clint said gruffly, "and none of that cute stuff you tried to pull." Luce said nothing, but allowed herself to be pulled along through a hanger and into SHIELD headquarters. They marched down several nearly identical hallways, until Clint finally stopped, wrenched open a door and none too kindly pushed her inside. The moment he released her arm, Luce jumped away rubbing where she was sure to have handprint shaped bruises tomorrow. Clint stepped inside the room, which Luce immediately recognized as an interrogation room and shut the door behind him. He looked at her, Luce was still standing in the same place, as nearest to the door she could be, while still maintaining a distance from Clint. "Look. You're going to sit in that chair, and you aren't going to move until I come back." He said pointing. Luce looked at him snidely, "or what? You're already going to lock me up for good, why should I care what else will happen?" Clint looked at her, genuinely perplexed, "What? Who said I was going to lock you up?" Now it was Luce's turn to be confused. His mood swings were giving her a headache, one minute he seemed like a caring dad and the next he was the no-nonsense agent, and now, and now Luce couldn't tell what card he was trying to play. Luce swallowed, trying to keep the growing fear and frustration out of her voice, "Well then why am I here huh!? Why drag a girl out to SHIELD headquarters in the middle of the night?! Especially after I.." Her voice cracked, she couldn't help it. She had been through a lot in the last couple days and finally opening up to someone and having them turn around drag her into a military base didn't do much for her mental state. "Whoa, hey there," Clint's voice was soft, and he closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her shoulders. When she immediately tensed, he quickly took them off. "Look, Luce, what you said... It just brought up a lot of" he paused, searching for words, "unpleasant memories alright? Reminded me of some intel from years ago, and I just needed to bring you in so we could hear more about it alright?" She stepped back, more under control, but still skeptical, "at two in the morning." He sighed, "it's urgent." Giving her a grim smile, he made for the door, "now wait here. I'll be right back." Luce watched him leave. Sighing herself, she sat down in the chair, resolving to believe him. For now.

* * *

Clint barged into the command room, "Where's Coulson?" He barked. No matter the hour, he knew Coulson would be here, especially with all the new information Natasha's flash drive had brought them. "Calm down, I'm right here," Coulson said walking up to Clint, "Now what's this I hear about you dragging a girl into interrogation? Not a new one I hope." Clint sighed, "No, it's Luce" he said rubbing his forehead, "she, she told me something about her past, and I found it pertinent to bring her here." Coulson nodded, "I see." He put his arm lightly around Agent Barton, "why don't we take this outside." He moved Clint back towards the door and then shot stern looks at the agents who had stopped working to stare. They quickly jumped back into action, hurriedly looking away. Once in the hallway, Coulson looked at Clint, "Now what's this all about?" Clint gestured down the hallway, "Here, I'll tell you while we walk." The two started off down the hall, a few silent moments passed, and then Barton took a breath to speak, "When I came back, just now, I ran into Luce in the kitchen. She told me she was awake because she had a nightmare." He stopped and looked at Coulson, who merely nodded for him to continue. "When I asked her what it was about, she hesitated, but then said it was about the first time she had ever killed a man." Coulson stopped at that, and looked at Clint in shock. Clint merely nodded grimly, "it gets worse."

"Worse?!" Coulson exclaimed, "You just told me a seventeen year old girl, your daughter, has killed someone, and it gets _worse?!" _

"She said she did it because The Hand told her to."

"Oh boy." Coulson closed his eyes, trying to take in what was just said, "and you think what? That she is working for them?" Clint shook his head quickly, "No. No, not from what I could tell, and based off what Natasha said... well it looks like they were on the run _from _The Hand." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall where they had stopped, "I think they must have been held captive by The Hand for a while, and then…" he trailed off, not daring to say where his thoughts had gone. Coulson looked at him, eyes wide, voice soft, "you think we're dealing with the Red Room." Clint shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. I sincerely hope not, but that's the only explanation I can think of." Coulson took a deep breath, "Alright. Well, let's go find out then."

Clint opened the door to interrogation slowly, half-expecting to find Luce asleep; but she wasn't. She gazed at Clint and Coulson coolly from her seat as they walked in. Clint was startled to see the bags under her eyes and the over-all tiredness that seemed to emulate from her body. He hadn't noticed before, but then he had been busy thinking up other explanations, hoping she wasn't who he thought she was. "Luce." Coulson smiled at her, "it's nice to see you again." She gave him a mocking smile, "if only it were under better circumstances." He nodded, unfazed, "yes, right well, there's just something we want to ask you about."

"I don't work for The Hand, if that's what you mean" Luce snapped, "I'd never work for those scumballs. They can go shrivel up and die in a hole for all I care." She said venomously. "But you did." Clint moved towards her from where he was standing by the door. "You did work for them, you told me as much." She looked at him, face blank, but Clint could tell she was arguing with herself, trying to decide what information to divulge. He tried to reassure her, "I already told you you're safe Luce, we aren't going to harm you or lock you up." Clint looked to Coulson for support. "Barton's right," he said hurriedly, "we just want to know what happened. The more we understand, the more likely we'll be able to bring The Hand down once and for all." Luce's mouth was scrunched as she weighed her options, "it was blackmail." She said finally, "They realized I would be an asset to them, and that's why they took Mom when they did. They hadn't realized there were twins. At first, it was just to make Mom follow their orders you know?" Luce imitated a gruff man's voice, "'Do this or you'll never see your baby again' and it worked, for a while. And then one of them, I don't even know who, got the bright idea to train me up. After all, why only have one Black Widow, when you can have two?" Luce said mocking them somberly. "So what?" asked Coulson, "Then you ended up doing their dirty work? Why didn't you run?"

"Don't you think I wanted to?" She snapped, "I hated everything about it, the fighting and killing. But I did it to stay alive, and to keep Mom alive. They told me if I failed," she paused, swallowing down the sudden onslaught of emotion, "they told me if I failed, that they'd send Mom on a mission she'd never return from. So I kept at it. I was the best damn assassin they ever wanted! Just so Mom could… so she woudn't…" her voice broke here, and Clint could hear the tears behind her words. But Luce didn't look away and she didn't let them show. She just set her jaw and took a few deeps breaths. "So how did you get away then?" Clint pressed. "We outsmarted them." Luce had a small smile in the corner of her mouth, "eventually we had convinced them that we would work better as a pair, a team. And they took the bait. They sent us on a mission to Moscow, and once we dispatched our handlers," Luce gave a dark chuckle, "they never heard from us again." She looked at Coulson, "and we've been on the run ever since." Coulson leaned forward intrigued, "but what did you do then? How did you get all of that intel? Where did you stay!?" Coulson's voice rose in volume and Luce leaned back, from his barrage of questions, unsure.

"Okay, hey now." Clint stepped to Coulson, forcing him back, "I think we've had enough questions for one night." Luce flashed Clint a grateful look. "Look Phil, I'm tired, Luce is tired, we got what we came for." He gave Coulson a knowing look, "How about I take her home for the night alright?" Coulson stood up, looking at Clint, "You're right of course," he extended his hand towards Luce, "I apologize, and thank you so much for your cooperation." Luce stood also, and silently shook his hand. Clint meanwhile, opened the door, and then held his arm out gesturing to Luce, who then gave Coulson a small smile and then tiredly headed out the door. Clint made to follow her, and then looked back at Coulson, "see you tomorrow Phil." Coulson nodded and then watched as the two disappeared out the door.

Clint looked over to where Luce was resting her head against the window of the car. He had borrowed a SHIELD car this time around, instead of having someone drive them back to Stark Tower. He figured Luce might be grateful for the quiet and the not having to deal with a stranger. Sure enough, as soon as they cleared security she had zonked out, fast asleep, face pressed against the glass. Frankly, Clint was surprised she had lasted this long, she couldn't have had more than six hours of sleep in the past two days. He looked at her serene face, all traces of the anxiety and fear from earlier gone. He mulled over what she had told them. He was shocked that she had just given up the information readily, but then she couldn't have been in her right mind, with what she had just been through. The running, getting hospitalized, and lack of sleep. He frowned thinking about what The Hand had put her through, and then put Natasha through, seeing her daughter grow up to be a killer. He shook his head, grateful for the wonderful, albeit troublesome teenager that Meredith was. He wondered what the two of them would have been like if they had grown up together like they were supposed to. _Probably reckless, _he thought, _would have driven me and Nat insane. _He smiled, but it quickly faded as he thought of his old partner and fiancée. _Oh Nat, where are you? What have you gotten yourself into this time?_ Clint had been hoping that something would turn up at the base in Charlottesville, but there was no such luck. The Hand had been there of course, and they had put up a good fight. Clint winced, thinking about the bullet he had taken in his side. It was lucky for him that he'd been wearing his vest. SHIELD hadn't managed to capture anyone alive though. Apparently The Hand was still quite fond of cyanide pills. However, they hadn't managed to completely wipe their databases, and the SHIELD techs were having a field day trying to comb through all the information. He shook his head, feeling sorry for the poor techs who were likely being ground to the bone. Coulson could be a hard taskmaster when it came down to it.

Finally pulling into Stark Tower's underground car park, Clint leaned over and whispered, "Luce… hey Luce, we're home." He jerked back as Luce awoke with a stark, fist swinging for his face, "Heyy! Whoa, it's alright. Just me."

"Oh," Luce blinked the sleep away, "Sorry." Clint held back a laugh at her very non-apologetic face, "no worries. Come on. I think it's passed time we were both in bed." He opened the door getting out of the car, and Luce followed suit. Silently he led the way to the end of the lot where the elevator lay. Father and daughter waited for the elevator that would take them up to where warm beds awaited in them, in a silence that was more tired than hostile for the first time in their burgeoning relationship.

* * *

Meri woke to the sounds of someone banging pans around in the kitchen. Groaning she rolled over to look at her clock, _surely it couldn't be morning already? _But it was, at ten o'clock in the morning she had already slept for four more hours than she would during the school week. Meri debated making it five hours, when the smell of bacon wafted in the room. Her stomach rumbled and she chuckled, "might as well get up then." She said to herself. Making her way to the kitchen, she noticed her aunt standing in front of the stove, making bacon. "Pepper! What are you doing here?" Meri asked. Pepper smiled lightheartedly at her, "and a good morning to you too." Meri shot her a look, and took a seat at the bar, "I just mean, I thought you had work at the office."

"Oh, forget that." Pepper flapped her hand, "I thought I'd make breakfast for everyone instead."

"Mom's making food? Yikes." Philip stumbled into the kitchen, "Everyone's got poison control on speed dial right?" Meri laughed as he took a seat next to her, while Pepper attempted to hide a grin while looking offended, "hey now," she said, "Watch it I might spit in yours!" Pepper smiled playfully as she finished taking off the bacon, and started pooling pancake batter onto the griddle. "Ooo make mine superhero shaped," Tony said as he came into the kitchen and put his arms around Pepper, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Ew gross get a room!" Philip protested. Meri smiled at the couple wistfully. "Stark, there are children present!" Hawkeye's voice came from behind where Meredith was sitting, "DAD!" she yelled, jumping up and running to give him a hug. "Hey Mer" he said smiling down at her, "how's my little delinquent doing?" She stepped back giving him a look, "not hardly." She said. He raised an eyebrow, "oh and what _do_ you call trespassing these days?" Meri shot him a cheeky grin and tossed her hair, "all the rage." She said, "It's the new trend apparently." Clint opened his mouth, probably to protest her blindly following other's ideas, when Pepper called, "hey you two, pancakes are getting cold!" Meri skipped back over to wear the others were sitting at the table, and after applying liberal amounts of syrup, dug right in. There was a noisy chatter as Philip pretended to choke and die on his pancakes, and Tony complained that his weren't shaped like Ironman. Clint pestered Meri about how unruly her hair was and how it kept getting into his food. She retaliated by stealing his bacon. "Hey-" he started to say, but stopped when he realized everyone else had gone silent. He looked around to see Luce standing hesitantly in the doorway, still in Meri's borrowed pajamas. Pepper was the first to speak, "Morning Luce!" She said brightly, "can I get you some pancakes?" Luce nodded, returning a small smile. Pepper quickly fixed a plate up and then carried it and set it down next to the empty place beside Meri, "there you go." She said. Luce quietly walked over and sat down. Meri watched her hesitate slightly, eyeing the syrup that was in front of Clint. Meri reached over and grabbed it, "Syrup?" Luce gave her a grin, "yeah, thanks." She said in a soft voice, and then dumped the bottle on top of her pancakes, practically emptying its contents. There was a small silence and then Clint broke out chuckling, closely followed by Tony, then eventually the rest of them were laughing. Luce had a confused grin on her face, "I don't understand." She said. Clint wiped the tears from his eyes, "you wouldn't. It's just that Meri eats her pancakes the same way."

"Yeah, all syrup, no cake." said Philip, "it's gross."

"Is not, Philip!" Meri protested, but before things could escalate, Tony jumped in, "it's just funny to think someone else eats them the same way. None of us have understood it." Luce looked slightly apologetic, "oh, I've just always eaten them this way." Pepper smiled, "so has Meri." The adults started laughing again, and Meri rolled her eyes, "ignore them," she whispered at Luce, "They just don't understand real taste." Luce grinned at her, "the syrup's the best part." She whispered back, and the two of them shared a secret smile. After that, breakfast was notably brighter, and the conversation never steered far from Meri and Phil's various exploits, much to Meri's chagrin. "Look, that was _one_ time!" she said defending herself, when Tony brought up the time she had broken her leg trying to jump from the refrigerator because she thought she could fly. Luce snickered softly, and Meri whirled around at her, "I'm sure _you've_ done stupid things when you were five too!" That wiped the smile off her face, but before Luce had a chance to respond, Clint jumped up, "oh look at the time! I've got to get to work, and I'm supposed to be driving you to Bella's aren't I?" Meri looked at him confused at the sudden, very obvious interruption, "uh yeah, but didn't you just come off assignment? Normally you get the weekend off at least."

"Yeah, well, something's come up, so they've called me in. Now go get dressed, we've got to leave." Meri frowned at his impatience but stood and went to put her dishes in the sink. "You better get dressed too Luce," she heard him say, "you're coming with me." That puzzled Meri, she wasn't sure why Luce was allowed to go with him to work, after all Meri had never been to SHIELD headquarters. She didn't let it bother her though, because at least this way she wasn't going to be strong-armed into letting Luce come with her to see Bella. Meri wanted a chance to tell her best friend the recent news without the main subject standing around to overhear.

* * *

"Wait, so you're telling me that you have a twin sister you never knew about _and_ that she's currently staying with you?" Bella looked at Meri, from where she was standing on top the ladder, eyebrows raised. Paint dripped down from her brush and narrowly missed where Meri was holding onto the bottom rungs, "Yes that's what I'm telling you! Now watch where you're flinging that paint!" Meri sidestepped away from another glob as she berated her friend. They were repainting Bella's room for the umpteenth time that year. Every time Bella got a new hobby she wanted to paint her room to match. Currently, it was astronomy and they were painting the ceiling a dark blue before they dotted it with constellations. The Banners didn't mind, apparently, what they're daughter did, so long as she didn't make too large of a mess. "That's insane," said Bella, "so like, where did she even come from? Like who says she is who she says she is?" Meri held up a bucket for Bella to re-dip her paintbrush, "well, I dunno, it could be the fact she looks just like me?" Meri said sarcastically. Bella was unfazed, "Genes can recombine only so many times you know, maybe she's just an orphan who looks like you and was trained with what to say and now she's here to steal your inheritance!" Bella looked at Meredith mouth open in shock. Meri scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I doubt it. Look Dad and Tony seem to trust her, and so does Uncle Phil. And if you can't trust their judgment..." she trailed off shrugging. Bella frowned, thinking up a rebuttal, "Well, she could have mind control you know."

"Mind control's a myth Bella."

"Nuh uh! What about Professor X?"

"Pretty sure that was a onetime deal"

Bella raised an eyebrow, "you never know. But don't worry, I'll have your back." Meri smiled at her friend, wondering what would happen if she turned out to be right. Meri doubted it though, from what she'd seen, Luce well and truly was her twin. "Hey," Meri piped up, something suddenly dawning on her, "at least this means we'll be even with the boys now. They won't be able to outvote us on anything." Bella raised her paintbrush, and pointed at her, "True. Alright, I take back everything I said. Luce will turn out alright. All that matters now is convincing her to take our side on everything. Cause if I have to watch that Battle of New York documentary on movie night, one more time, I might just have to claw my eyes out." Meri laughed, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

* * *

Luce folded her arms, staring at the gym before her, "What am I doing here again?" Clint shrugged, "I have some work to do that you can't be around for, so I just thought maybe you could get some exercise." Luce narrowed her eyes at him, sensing a lie, "Then why even bring me? Why not let me stay back at the tower?" He looked at her, "because, I wasn't going to let you sit home all day and watch television."

"Philip is at home." She countered. Clint sighed, "Philip isn't you and he isn't my responsibility. Plus, he has an internship he's going to go to." Luce scowled, but had to admit an internship at that age was impressive. Clint gestured towards the track, "Now go run some laps or something, I'll see you in a few hours." With that he turned and left out the gym door. Luce watched him go, shifting in her borrowed sneakers. Clint had managed to procure some SHIELD workout clothes, just some shorts and a tee, so she didn't have to borrow more of Meredith's stuff. She stared at the gym apprehensively, it was rather state of the art; it had everything from an indoor track, to gymnastics equipment, a few sparring rings and even a climbing wall. She stood there for a moment, unsure of where to begin, the gym was relatively empty but there were a few people sparring and stretching. When they started to give her weird looks, Luce set her shoulders and set off at a jog for the track.

When she finished the last lap of her warm-up mile, Luce grabbed a drink from the fountain and made her way to the gymnastics mat to start stretching. She took the opportunity to study the people in the room as she leaned forward touching her toes. They were all relatively young, no older than thirty but none as young as Luce was, that was for sure. She studied the two men sparing, and noted their moves where rather formulaic. _So these people must be relatively new, _she thought, _maybe they haven't even been out on mission yet. _She nodded, deciding that was most likely the case. Luce watched the last people who had been stretching on the floor, get up and head for the climbing wall, so she stood and decided that she might as well work on her tumbling. She completed a few basic passes to make sure she was warm before she headed into the trickier stuff. It had been a couple years since she'd been able to really try anything, and she didn't realize how much she missed it. Taking up her position on a corner, Luce broke into a sprint, _round-off, back handspring, back tuck._ She chanted in her head. Sticking it, she allowed herself a small smile, before readying to take another pass.

* * *

Clint watched Luce practice from where he was up in an observation room hidden by a one-way mirror. The room existed so that agents could watch their trainees without them knowing in order to judge their determination and work ethic. "Pretty good isn't she?" one of the agents now said to Clint, after Luce completed a double layout. Clint shrugged, "she isn't bad." He knew, if anything Luce told him last night was true, she could do a lot better. He had lied to Luce, there wasn't any work he had to do that she couldn't see. No, _she_was his work. Coulson had tasked him with finding out just how lethal Luce was. If what she had told them last night was true, then SHIELD had a bit of concern where Luce was involved. He watched Luce, who, apparently bored of gymnastics, headed over to the climbing wall. Not having a partner to belay her, Luce stuck to the smaller side of the wall, scaling up and down it rapidly. "Well, she manages to do better than most of my guys at least," the agent said to Clint shaking his head. Clint grinned at the agent, "that's because you're too easy on them." The agent looked like he was about to protest, but Clint didn't let him, "Come on," he said gesturing to the exit, "We've got work to do."

* * *

"LUCE!" Startled, Luce looked down from the top of the wall to see Clint yelling up at her, "Get down here!" Puzzled, she scurried down the wall, then landing at his feet, she said, "What is it? I thought you weren't going to be done for a couple hours?" "I wasn't" he said, "but then something came up that I thought you could help us with." Luce cinched her eyebrows, confused as Clint lead her to one of the sparring rings. The ring was already occupied by an older agent and then some of the people she'd seen training in the gym with her. Wanting to ask what this was all about, Luce opened her mouth, but a look from Clint, made her shut it right away. "Alright trainees," Clint raised his voice to address the group of them, "Agent Patterson here, thinks you've been slacking on your individual training, so here's the deal. If you can beat Luce here," he put a hand on her shoulder, "in a fight. You can get the rest of the day off. You lose, and..." he hesitated looking to Agent Patterson, who quickly stepped up, "You lose, and you'll be doing survival drills for the next two weeks." Luce didn't know what that meant, but judging by the groans she heard it wasn't fun. Then it dawned on her what that meant, and she grabbed Clint's sleeve, "whoa wait, you want me to fight these guys?!" Clint looked at her expressionless, "yeah." Luce attempted to protest, but everyone had quickly cleared the ring, and she was left standing there alone, with one of the trainees. Luce started at the women opposite her, unsure of how this was to go. To her credit, the women also looked hesitant, "Alright," called Agent Patterson, "you know the rules. Don't fight too dirty, and try not to get blood on the mats." Luce looked at Clint wide-eyed unsure if that was directed at the women or her, Clint just nodded at her, "shoes off" he said. Slowly Luce pulled off the sneakers and threw them off to the side. She faced the trainee in a basic stance, feet shoulder-width apart, balanced; arms by her side but ready at a moment's notice. The women took up the same stance, and then looked at her SO, "You're really serious?" she said. "Are you doubting me trainee?" he replied. Her mouth twitched, "No sir." After a brief moment, the women launched at Luce, who easily dodged. Circling, the women turned and reached to punch Luce who dodged again just as easily. She wasn't about to start fighting this women. She wasn't sure what Clint's angle was but she knew that was the end game. The women came at Luce again, this time faster and more readily. Luce didn't spare another thought to Clint's motives, concentrating fully on escaping the vicious onslaught. The dodge/attack game went on for several moments, before the women just stopped, backing up, and dripping in sweat. Luce was breathing heavily, dodging having taking more out of her than if she had just stopped and fought. "What are you doing trainee?" Patterson barked. The women looked at him flushing, "she won't fight back," she protested. Agent Patterson looked at Clint, who nodded. Patterson jerked his head at the women, "Okay you're done. Next up." The women scowled, glaring at Luce as she exited the arena. This time a man entered. He was a little taller than average, but slight. Patterson spoke up again, "Alright, this time, you fight until someone's back hits the mat." The man looked at Luce skeptical, but she just set her jaw and took up the ready stance. He didn't attack her straight off. He stood there unmoving, as if trying to get her to make the first move. _Not likely, _she thought. They stood there for a few more moments, before Agent Patterson spoke up dryly, "you can't stand there all day." Luce glanced at Clint, making her first mistake, a fist slammed into her gut, and all the air was blown out of her. She doubled over, gasping for breath. The trainee that hit her, stood back as if unsure of the morality of having hit a girl, then leaned over to see if she was alright. That was his first mistake, Luce's fist sprung out, connecting with his jaw, and snapping the man's head back. Giving Luce just enough time to hop away from him. The man spun, glaring at her, then came at her again, fists raised. This time, Luce was ready. She dodged the blows just like she did with the women before him. Though, she occasionally tossed a punch or kick that he could easily bypass. The fight went on for several minutes. Luce panted, sweat dripped down her face, she kept waiting for Patterson to call it, but he never did. Apparently he was serious about the fact one of them needed to end up on the mat. Luce hesitated going on the offensive for a bit longer, but then she realized that the trainee was holding back. Why, Luce couldn't tell but she didn't care. Making her decision, Luce suddenly started returning the blows. This time, they made contact. She landed blow after blow, but soon, she realized it was fruitless. She wasn't going to be able to knock him out with a punch. She gave up on the attack, going on the defensive again, and waiting for her moment. Then, she had it, he opened up his center, Luce threw a solid punch hitting him right in the solar plexus. The trainee doubled over winded, and Luce jumped, feet together kicking the trainee right under the jaw. Already winded, he was forced over the other way, off balance. Luce dropped to the ground, swinging her leg around knocking the trainee's feet out from under him. He hit the ground with a solid smack. Panting, Luce stood, threw her hands up in a "well-there" motion and made to exit the ring. "Whoa," Clint said holding up his hand, "Where do you think you're going?" She stopped, blinking at him, "I beat the trainee. I won." Clint smiled at her sardonically, "No, you were _toying_ with him." Luce said nothing, breathing heavily still, and just stared at him expressionless. "Plus," Clint said with a smile, "you have the rest of the trainees to beat." He gestured to the five other people on the far side of the mat. "What?" Luce's jaw dropped down, "No that's not-" she protested, but stopped when Clint looked at her raising an eyebrow. "I'll tell you what," he said, "you beat this next guy in less than a minute, and we can be done." Luce glared at him, but wasn't about to deny the fact that she could do it. Clint grinned, "Perfect, it's a deal then. Whoever is next, you're up!" He called cheerfully. Luce took her place back on the mat, the previous trainee having already grumpily got off. She looked over at the group of trainees who had yet to go expectantly. They were still hesitant to come forward, though this time, it was likely more because of what she did to their friend than because she was a girl, Luce surmised. Finally, another man stepped forward onto the mat. He was bigger than the last, both taller and more muscular. Luce glanced back at Clint, "One minute" he mouthed holding up his watch. She turned back to her opponent. _Damn Clint, _she thought. There would be no back-and-forth dance with this guy. No, Luce was going to have to make the first move and take him down right away. Luce sighed, tired, she cracked her back and took the ready stance. She watched Agent Patterson, then on his nod, Luce sprinted forward, launching herself off the ground, she quickly wrapped her legs around the trainee's neck spinning around, and then leaning back she used her body weight to pull him off balance. Falling, Luce quickly unwrapped her legs, leaned forward and pushed down on his chest with her hands, simultaneously pushing him into the ground and launching herself in the opposite direction. Luce flew forward and landed, rolling to her feet and popping up quickly, just as her opponent hit the ground with a giant thud. Luce turned to look at Clint, cocking an eyebrow. He stared at her, but she couldn't read the expression on his face. He turned to Agent Patterson and the trainees, nodding, "Alright looks like we're done here. Thanks for your participation everyone!" The trainees mumbled, collecting themselves. Luce climbed out of the ring and walked over to Clint, "Well?" she said. He looked at her, "Well, what?" She threw her hands up, "Well what was that all about?!" she shouted. "Whoa, hush, don't worry about it." He raised his hands in a placating motion, "Agent Patterson just needed help disciplining his trainees that's all." Luce scoffed, "Some trainees they were. Load of newbies the lot of them" She muttered under her breath. Clint nodded looking down, "yeah, some trainees" then louder he looked at her scrunching his nose, "and you stink! Go grab a shower and then we'll find some lunch." Luce just rolled her eyes at him, "No thanks to you." She said with a small smile, and then headed off to the locker rooms.

* * *

Clint sat outside the gym waiting for Luce to reappear. He looked up to see Agent Coulson walking towards him, "How'd she do?" he said. Clint looked at him somberly, "She was good." He shrugged, "she didn't realize that she was actually fighting level one and two agents so…" he trailed off. Coulson raised his eyebrows in shock, "Then who did she think they were?" Clint smiled at him grimly, "We told her they were trainees." Phil had to laugh at that, "And? Did she wipe the floor with them?"

"Eventually," Clint admitted, "but she had to be forced into it." He hesitated saying something else, then spoke up, "Geez, Phil, it was just like watching a mini Natasha. You could see her eyes, always calculating, figuring out the best way to take them down. And her face..." He paused remembering the look of Luce's face as she sparred the agents, "it was so serious and cold." He shook his head, thinking of the final fight, where she easily dispatched Agent Clifford without so much as losing her breath. Coulson looked at Clint, studying his morose expression. Softly he spoke, "Is she a threat Clint?" Clint shook his head, "No… I don't know. I don't think so." He looked at Coulson eyes begging him to believe, "she had to be _convinced_ to fight Phil." Clint didn't want to think of what would happen to Luce, if SHIELD labelled her as am unstable asset, like Coulson had suggested she was after the interrogation last night. He shook his head, thinking there was no way it could be so.

"Well, then." Coulson clasped Clint on the shoulder interrupting his reverie, "We've got nothing to worry about!" Clint looked at his boss, grateful. Coulson grin turned suddenly conspiratorial "Now all that matters is seeing how she reacts at the family dinner tonight!"

**Well, there's that. "Family Dinner" can only mean one thing right? Right? IDK you'll have to tune in to see ;) Right though, on a serious note, this was my favorite chapter to write, so I hope you all enjoyed it! STILL, though, if you have questions or concerns about the portrayal of a character don't be afraid to speak up! I write for you guys after all, and if you didn't like how something was done please let me know! Though, also it would be real swell if you could tell me what you DID like, so I can make sure to keep doing that also :) um, okay yup. Oh question, I really do want to know what you think, because I don't to disappoint so, do you like the progression of the story or is it too slow? too fast? how are the characters? Do they stick close to how you imagine them, or did I waver in their characterization? IDK you don't really have to answer these questions, I'd just appreciate it. :) Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And have a nice week and weekend! :)**

**~Cecily**


	8. Chapter 8

Lights flickered in the dimly lit warehouse. The place was empty, practically abandoned, all that was left was collections of junk gathering dust, piled abstractly around the room. In the very center was a figure sitting, tied to a chair, the light above her swinging slowing back and forth. A man stood off to the side studying the prisoner. He was younger than expected, most likely in his early thirties, the shirt he was wearing pulled tightly across his chest, showing off clearly defined muscles. He looked at the woman in the chair, smirking, "Well, well, well, never thought we'd find ourselves here now did we?" he said. The woman didn't reply, merely looked at him with a bored expression on her face. If the man was insulted by her blasé reaction, he didn't show it. He reached back to the table next to him, picking up a knife and beginning to sharpen it. He stared at her coldly, then in a flash he threw the knife, it whirled across the room, plunging itself into the wood of the chair millimeters from the woman's hand. He scowled at her when she didn't so much as flinch. "What, no cry of terror?" He mocked at her.

"This isn't my first rodeo," she said dryly, "but if you could get a move on, I do have places to go and people to see." The man took a step back at that, and laughed coldly, "Oh we know all about the people you're trying to see _Widow._" He took a few steps toward her menacingly, "Your pesky little team isn't it? _The Avengers_." He said scathingly. The woman looked at him, narrowing her eyes, when he reached forward and yanked out the knife from the arm of the chair. "Oh don't worry," he said now, "we've got plenty of plans for them. Exciting things, bound to be all over the news." She raised an eyebrow at him, "You know, I always found it refreshing that you people were paparazzi hounds. It saves the agencies a lot of time from trying to come up with fitting stories." The Widow spoke calmly tilting her head back, as if having a casual conversation. The man scoffed, "Agencies! A load of bureaucratic bull. You should know that, you work for them don't you?" He paused, an evil smile on his face, "Oh wait, that's right, they wrote you off as rogue twenty years ago, didn't they?" The women glared at him darkly. If possible the man's grin grew wider, "Oh you remind me so much of Luce when you do that."

"Don't-" The woman started to say, jerking forward, "Don't what?" he interrupted, "don't mention your little darling?" he tutted, "She really is so sweet, I can't wait till we get our hands on her again. Oh yes, The Hand has many plans for little Lucille." He opened his mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off as the women, free from her bonds suddenly launched at him. She knocked him over rolling with the impact and turning to face him. The man quickly got up, and threw a fist in her direction. She ducked under it, and grabbed a nearby candlestick from one of the piles of junk. Swinging it with all her might, the candlestick hit him in the head with a _thunk. _He instantly dropped to the floor unconscious. Natasha Romanoff smirked as she hauled up his body, tying it to the chair, "and I look forward to hearing all about those plans.

* * *

Clint looked down at Luce in the elevator. She was nervously tapping her fingers against her thigh. They were on their way up to the penthouse for the weekly "family dinner." Generally, it was an incomplete family as Clint and Steve were off on missions, and Phil was often too swamped to come. Sometimes Bruce and Betty couldn't scrounge up the patience to round up their troublesome two. Thor and Jane typically only came on holidays since he was busy on Asgard and Jane was occupied with teaching at a university. Tonight, however was going to be different. Everyone was really excited to meet Luce, after only hearing tidbits about her. "Are you ready" he asked Luce. She gulped, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He smiled at her brave façade, "They might get a little crazy so just be prepared." Luce threw him a half-grin, "I'm always prepared."

* * *

The elevator doors swooshed open, and Luce braced herself for an impact of relatives like in the movies, but it never came. She tentatively stepped into the living room and gazed around. Pepper was sipping wine with a brunette-haired lady. Coulson was standing off to the side talking to who Luce recognized as Steve Rogers. Bruce Banner was in the kitchen wearing an apron, she could hear a slight sizzling sound, and a delicious smell wafted her way. She felt Clint's hand her back gently propel her forward, "Everyone this is Luce. Luce, this is everyone," he said. Luce gave a small smile, and offered a small wave in their general vicinity. She noticed Pepper, who was waving at her, after glancing at Clint, who nodded, she walked over to say hello. "Luce, this is Betty, she's Bruce's wife." Pepper said gesturing to the brunette women. "Hi." Luce said, offering her hand. Betty took it, smiling at her kindly, "It's nice to meet you Luce. I wish I could say I've heard a lot about you but I'm afraid that's not the case." Betty said in a warm teasing tone. Luce felt a blush creep up her cheeks, "Oh, um." Luce found herself at a loss of words to say to the caring women, who suddenly reminded her of her own mother. But she was spared from having to blather out a response by Coulson calling her over to him. She gave Betty and Pepper an apologetic shrug and turned to face Phil. "Luce, meet Captain America," he said. Rogers gave a sigh of exasperation, "It's just Steve, thanks." Luce gave him a wry grin, "Nice to meet you Just Steve." The look he gave her made Luce grin even wider. Steve looked over at Clint who was trying to hide his laughter, "Really takes after you, doesn't she, Barton?" Clint shrugged, controlling himself, "I think she takes after her mother, personally." The grin fell from Luce's face at the mention of Natasha. She had been trying not to think about her mother all day, hoping that wherever she was, she was safe. Steve noticed her suddenly somber expression and quickly spoke up, "Have you meet Bruce yet? He's our chef for the evening." Steve pointed over to where Dr. Banner was flipping something in a fry pan, "Bruce!" he called waving, "come meet Luce!"

"Uhh I'm a little busy at the moment!" He called back, "No offense Luce, I'm sure you're a nice gal." He tossed her a quick smile, and Luce gave one back, "None taken!" she responded. Bruce turned his attention back to the kitchen, and Luce stood their awkwardly for a moment, not sure what to do. After that workout earlier, she was starting to feel more like her old self. Unfortunately for Luce, her old self had no idea how to handle social situations like these. She gave a side-eyed look down the hall to where the room she had slept in was. Maybe, she could manage to sneak away before having to make any small talk. "Oh, um dear," Luce looked to wear Betty's soft voice was calling her, "have you met the kids yet? I'm sure you'd rather be with them then us boring adults." She smiled at Luce, who started to hold her hands up in protest, but then Pepper jumped in, "Oh brilliant, of course! They're downstairs in one of the labs. Luce, why don't you go down and tell them to come up in ten minutes for dinner?" Pepper gave her a bright smile, and Luce had the feeling it wasn't really a suggestion, "uh, okay sure..." she said hesitantly. "Wonderful!" exclaimed Pepper, "Just head into the elevator and push the button that says L3" Luce nodded her understanding. She turned back towards the elevators for what she imagined her ultimate doom to be. Luce had never really been around kids her own age, and she wasn't really sure what to expect. She wondered if the movies were all that realistic and whether or not she would be subject to extreme levels of hazing. She barely had anytime to imagine all of the possible harrowing scenarios before the elevator doors dinged open.

For a moment her mouth dropped open in total surprise. The entire floor had been converted into one giant room. Luce blinked at the sudden stark whiteness of the walls and floor, eyes adjusting to notice the only spots of color where a result of metal tool tables spread out in various positions. A few support beams blocked her vision of the rest of the room, but she was pretty sure it all just looked the same.

"Uh have I gone crazy, or am I seeing double?" Luce snapped her jaw shut at the unfamiliar voice. She turned to the speaker. He was tall and lanky, with a shock of unruly blonde hair. "Naw, you're just crazy." The newest voice belonged to a shorter girl, who grinned at him. She punched the boy's shoulder, "This is Luce you idiot!" She marched up to Luce and stuck out her hand, "The name's Bella and I am _so_ glad you're here."

"Uh…" Luce shook her hand tentatively, "Hi." This wasn't going at all how she expected. The girl, Bella, grinned up at her, then clapped a hand on her shoulder, the gesture was slightly awkward, since Luce was at least five inches taller than her, "Here let me introduce you to everyone. This prat over here," she gestured to the first boy that spoke, "is James. He's sixteen, a year older than me. But don't let that fool you, he's dumber than a rock." She hurriedly guided Luce passed him, as he called after, "Hey! I take offense to that!" Bella just shook her head at him, "You were meant to!" She yelled over her shoulder. "Now over here," she threw her arm wide to encompass the rest of the room, "we've got the cool people." Luce looked at her, raising an eyebrow. The room was still vastly empty, the only people she saw were Philip and Meri. Philip was bent over some sort of metal contraption on a lab table. Meri, was laying sprawled all over the same table, half-heartedly shooting a dart arrows into the ceiling with a toy bow. "Hey Mer!" Bella called, "Look what the cat dragged in!" Meredith lazily turned her head to where Luce and Bella were standing, then bolted upright, knocking Philip's project to the floor, "Luce."

Luce barely had time to respond with an "Umm hey," before Meri yelped loudly, "HEY what was that for?" She glared at Philip who had just shocked her with a prod. Philip sent the glare right back, "You knocked my phaser to floor! You know it took me three weeks to get this far right?" She shook her head at him, "Oh hush, you big geek. You can always fix it." Meri jumped down from the table and strode over to Luce and Bella, leaving Philip's vague grumbling and cursing behind in the background. "Sooo, how was SHIELD?" Luce shrugged at Meri's question, not really sure how to answer. There wasn't really an easy way to segway into "oh yes, I beat a couple people up and then went for ice cream". Luckily for Luce, she was saved having to answer for the second time that night by the sudden hurling of a dark form in their direction screaming "ABORT! ABORT! LOOK OUT!" Meri leaped into action, shoving Luce off to the side, who hit the ground painfully as a shape went speeding past right over where she was just standing. "LUCAS YOU IDIOT! You could've killed us!" Bella yelled after the figure, clambering up from where she had been pancaked on the floor. The shape came to a sudden stop and the figure slid straight off what looked like a floating skateboard. Luce soon realized it wasn't just one person as the figures skidded out, stopping at their feet. The boy popped up standing right in front of Luce, "Well, howdy do! I'm Lucas, and this here tyke," he patted the helmet of the toddler he was holding, "Is little Bernard."

"You took my baby brother on that stupid hoverboard?!" Bella's face was livid, she was glaring at Lucas and looked about to launch at him. Lucas' eyes went wide, he quickly held up baby Bernard in-between him and Bella, "Well, now see here, he was wearing a helmet. So all is safe really." He shot Bella a sheepish grin. "Put the baby down, Lucas," Bella growled. "Actually, uh, I'd rather not." He said, dancing away from her. Bella was about to dart forward, when Meri quickly stepped between them, "Okay, okay, everybody calm down." She shot Bella a pointed look, who merely crossed her arms, still glaring at Lucas. Meri turned to Lucas and spoke in a slow voice, "Lucas… give Bernard to Luce." Luce quickly threw up her hands in protest, "uhh I don't-" but the glare from her sister shut her up. Resignedly, Luce held out her arms to take the child. Lucas quickly thrust Bernard over and rushed out of Bella's line of sight. He grabbed the hoverboard and ran to hide behind where James had gone to stand next Philip, called over by all the commotion. Bernard squirmed in Luce's hands, she held him in front of her awkwardly, _well this certainly wasn't how she pictured the night going_.

* * *

Meri let loose a long breath, dropping her arms. She shot Bella one more look, then turned to deal with the craziness that was Lucas Rogers. He grinned at her unabashed from behind his older brother. Meri just rolled her eyes, "Next time, take _me_ man!" Lucas scoffed at her, "It won't hold both of us and you know it." Meri sighed defeated. At one point in time, there had been enough hoverboards for all of them. However, seventeen stiches and a couple broken bones later, Pepper and Betty made Tony get rid of them all. The only reason Lucas still had the one was because he had managed to hide it from the wrath of the mothers. "Uh… guys?" Luce's voice was heard, tentatively from behind him. Meri glanced at her, and then had to smother a laugh. She looked utterly lost holding Bernard out in front of her as though he carried some disease. "Oh here." Bella said impatiently, walking over to take him from Luce. "I'll save you from all these losers." She cooed at him, he merely responded by smacking her in the head. "Ugh. Okay, I'm going to take him upstairs, but when I get back…" She paused, entering the elevator and then just as the doors were shutting, "…_war."_

* * *

Luce looked concernedly at Meri, "What?!" Meri laughed, "Oh that's just Bella being dramatic." She said dismissively. Philip quickly spoke up,"Oh no no, wait a minute here, Mer. You know the rules." He held up his hand, "Bella declared war, and that means war." Meredith shook her head, "We only ever play that when Aiden is here."

"But that's only because Aiden makes even teams, with Luce here…" James trailed off shrugging. Philip looked at her as if to say _I-told-you-so _and Lucas started nodding enthusiastically. "Aw come on guys, she only just got here, you really want to alienate her now?" Meri complained at them. Luce merely raised an eyebrow still failing to comprehend what was going on. They couldn't mean actual war, right? Maybe they just meant a huge tournament of the card game. Luce could handle that. "I'm sure Luce isn't chicken. Right Luce?" Lucas looked at her, challenging. Luce shrugged at him, "Of course not." Meri groaned and Luce threw her an apologetic glance. "Perfect!" Lucas crowed and both James and Philip started grinning wildly. "Okay, since it's even, we'll have boys vs. girls, with the twins and Bella on one team and me, Lucas and Philip on the other." James directed the others. "Boys, retrieve the gear." As Philip and Lucas raced off, Luce turned to Meri, who still had on a face of defeat. Luce threw her a confused look. Meri sighed, speaking low, "It's just. Well, we always lose, me and Bella. It's not even our fault! The boys sabotage us!" She threw her hands up in frustration. Luce gave her a knowing look, "Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we?" Meri looked at her, light dawning in her eyes. The two grinned, exchanging evil glances.

* * *

**Yes, yes I know. Super late, it's been years, you thought I vanished off the planet, etc. (I can niether confirm nor deny those allegations lol) but seriously. The reason it's late (if you care it know) is because of midterms and projects, I was swamped. Then i realized finals are just about here so the odds of me having another free moment are slim. SO i whipped this up in hopes you'd call off the hounds. ahah Anyway (thanks to a suggestion by clarawithfitzsimmonsin221b [check them out btw, totally awesome] I included a bit of what Natasha is up to) uh yup that's about it. **

**So, sorry for the late update and future late update (school sucks)**

**and please review! :)**

**Cecily**


	9. Chapter 9-Meri

**I'm back people! Longest no warning hiatus ever and I'm deeply sorry. See bottom for more :)**

Natasha sprinted down the street. Shouts of angry passerby followed her. They were getting louder, she realized. The Hand was catching up. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she quickly ducked down the nearest alley. Gasping for breath, she leaned against the dirty brick wall and held out the phone she'd been clutching. Her fingers were quick and precise as she tapped out a brief message.

"HEY!" a gruff voice yelled. Natasha's head darted up to where she heard the sound. A bulky frame filled the exit to the alley. Quickly, she dropped the phone and ran for the opposite end. Her mind spinning for options. She had barely gotten away from the warehouse, when the Hand had picked up on her whereabouts. She'd been running since, unable to lose the tail. It should have been easy, but the Hand had unlimited resources, and as good as she was, Natasha could only run for so long. She skidded to a stop in the middle of the alley, as she noticed the exit she was running towards was suddenly blocked by more men. She looked them over, counting how many and realized she was hopelessly outnumbered. She scanned the walls, hoping for a fire escape, but saw nothing. Natasha grimaced then adopted a fighting stance, she saying "Well, come and get me then."

A low chuckle came from behind the wall of goons, "Oh, I don't think so Widow, we won't take the chance of you getting away again." Natasha frowned, and before she could react, she felt a small jab in her neck. Reaching up, she pulled away a tiny dart. She had only time to mutter, "Damn" before the world went black.

Meri and Luce sat stood tensely across from Philip, Lucas and James as they waited for Bella to return. On a table laid out between the two groups was an assortment of paintball guns and a variety of colored ammo. The guns ranged from small pistols to a rather larger automatic. Meri looked at them unsettled, she would rather not have a repeat of last time they played. That had ended with Meri covered in unsightly bruises for two weeks, while the boys laughed every time they saw her. A bow and arrow she could handle. Guns? Not so much. Meri would never admit that to anyone though, especially not Bella who just loved the game. Meri shook her head, not understanding the hype. Luce glanced over at her, eyes questioning, but Meri forced a smile. Luce, it seemed, was the more confident version of herself. Every time she had seen her twin, Luce had walked with this self-assured air, as though she could take on the world and win. Not that Meri was lacking in self-esteem, just that she didn't nearly have the boundless amounts the rest of her family seemed to have. Even the family who she just met. The elevator doors dinged opened and everyone's gaze quickly shot to Bella. But she didn't skip out grinning like Meri thought she would. Instead Bella merely put her hand across the doors keeping the elevator open, "Dinner time," she said glumly. "Finally!" Lucas groaned hand on his stomach, "I'm starved!" As they crowded onto the elevator, James pat Bella on the back, "Cheer up cuz, there is always after dinner!" The boys, it seemed were in high spirits with the promise of food, and Meri had to admit she was rather glad to be saved by the dinner bell, so to speak. But she hastily hid her grin, when Bella looked up at her, "James' right, Bel, no need to be so negative." She felt Luce step up behind her, "No worries, Bella, There will be plenty of time for ass-kicking after we eat." Luce tossed her a cheerful grin. Bella perked up at that, and Meri had to squash the tiny feeling of jealousy that surged towards Luce.

Her feelings were soon forgotten though, as dinner finally began. Squashed between Philip and Bella, Meri helped pass around the potatoes, after taking a scoopful for herself. She maneuvered them around on her plate to make room for the chicken Phil passed her way. "Soo, how was everybody's day?" Pepper drawled out the question over the sound of silverware and murmured, '_will you pass that_'s. Meri felt the sudden awkward silence as almost every kid's gaze dropped to their plates as though avoiding being picked on at school. Bella however, had no such qualms about answering, "Me and Meri almost finished painting my room!" Betty looked up briefly from where she was spoon-feeding Bernard, "Meri and I, dear." Bella rolled her eyes, "Oh please mother, I was speaking colloquially." Her mother just sighed and turned back to where her young charge was making a mess of the mashed potatoes. "That's nice, isn't it Mer?" Pepper's gaze turned to Meri now, but her mouth full of food, so she could only shrug. "Well," continued Pepper, "I'm sure it will look lovely once it's finished. You'll have to go see it Luce. Meri and Bella always do a wonderful job." She smiled invitingly at Luce, and Meri's gaze jerked up to look at her twin. She wasn't sure she wanted to share her best friend with Luce, but to her credit, Luce looked positively startled by the invitation. "Oh, um," Luce looked down, squashing her potatoes with her fork, "Sure." She gave Pepper a hesitant smile. Meri frowned slightly, until she felt a poke in her ribs. She turned to accuse Philip, but he just whispered, "Lighten up will you? It's not as though they're replacing you." Meri opened her mouth to retort, but then realized that he was right. She was getting worked up over nothing. Mentally shaking off her growing hostility, she turned back to the conversation. Or rather, conversations.

Dinner was drawing to a slow close when Bella piped up, "Hey mom, can I be done? We've got plans." She glanced over at her mom, smiling innocently. "Uh huh, yeah me too." Lucas added, pushing his plate forward hurriedly, while James nodded anxiously. Steve laughed, "Guys, you haven't even had dinner yet, what could possibly be so important?"

"Ah, I think I know what it is." Bruce said softly, "See, they've finally got even numbers again now that Luce is here." There were soft murmurs of "Oh" as the rest of the adults came to the same conclusion. "Oh kids, not again, the mess at Christmas was enough for a lifetime." Pepper pleaded. Tony leaned back in his chair, "Aww let them have their fun Potts; it's only a fake war."

"No." The voice was stern, but wasn't Pepper that spoke up, it was Clint. Meri looked at him confused, "But Dad-" He gave Meri a stern look, "I said no, Mer," then he glanced over at Luce, "not now." Collective groans rose around the table, but once one parent set down the law, the rest were quick to follow.

Eventually the complaints had stopped, dessert had been scarfed down and the guests went home. Bella and Luce lingered in the living room, having just said goodbye to Bella. Pepper looked up from where she was clearing dishes from the table, "Alright you three," she said, calling out to Luce, Meri and Philip, the latter of which had been trying to sneak down the hall, "You know the drill."

"Aw mom, I don't want to do dishes tonight! I've got a major project to work on." Philip whined at Pepper, who merely gave him a smile, "I'm sure it can wait." She said. Meri didn't even bother trying to get out of it, know it was pointless. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed up a washcloth, "Here," she threw it at Luce, "You wash. I hate it, and Philip is just awful." Luce snatched it from the air, and glanced over at Phil who had stopped trying to whine and was now feigning offence. "Really Meri, you wound me." He put a hand on his chest throwing a pained look at Meredith, who just rolled her eyes. "If you were actually wounded every time you said that, you'd be dead by now." Philip narrowed his eyes and took a step towards the sink where Luce was starting to wash the dishes, "Okay, first off I do not say it that much, and second off-" he reached out, scooping up soap bubbles and dumped them on Meri's head.

"PHILIP!" she screeched, "You are SO dead!" She reached towards the sink, but stopped short when Pepper's voice rang out, "If you two could attempt to not get the kitchen drenched for once, that'd be great." Meredith turned to where Pepper and Tony were now relaxing on the couch, "He started it!" she pointed accusingly at Philip. Pepper looked at Philip, eyebrow raised. "I deny everything." He said raising his hands innocently.

"That's my boy!" Tony snapped his fingers pointing at Philip, who tossed his dad a sheepish grin. Meri scoffed, turning back to Luce, "I never win fights around here."

Luce glanced over at her, "Seems like you guys never finish the dishes either." Meri laughed softly, "Yeah, that too." She took the pan, Luce offered her and slowly started drying it, "Well, normally I end up doing it all." _So good thing you're here_. But Meri didn't add that last thought. She wasn't quite sure she did want Luce to be here, in Stark tower, in **her **home. Maybe she was being selfish, but she didn't care. It wasn't fair that Luce could just show up and win over everyone's hearts like that. To be able to go to SHIELD before Meri herself even got to see where her dad worked. Her dad, who it seemed to be spending more time with Luce than with Meri. Silently, as she dried the dishes Luce handed her, she studied her twin. Luce had chopped her hair shorter than the way Meri wore it, and she straightened it. Something Meredith never had the patience for. Her face was quiet, contemplative, as she scrubbed the bowl she was washing. Then, her face perked up and milliseconds later, the elevator doors opened. Simultaneously, the twins spun around to see who was at the door.

"Phil," Pepper said to the rather weary looking agent, "Couldn't stop by for dinner? At least come have a cup of wine." She gestured to the open bottle but Agent Coulson shrugged apologetically at Pepper, "Sorry, here on business." Meri threw a confused glance at Luce, but her twin had gone still.

"Did I hear Coulson?" Clint came strolling into the kitchen, then stopped short upon noticing Meri. "Uh, sweetheart, you got a little," he gestured frantically at his head. Meredith looked at him confused, then quickly reached for her head, where sure enough, there were still bubbles from when Philip had doused her. She sighed and Clint gave her a wink. "So what's this all about Coulson?" Clint said leaning on the kitchen bar, Coulson cleared his throat, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Meri frowned, he was clearly hesitant about whatever it was. Clint simply groaned, "Just spit it out-"

"We found her." Before Meri had a chance to work through the puzzling statement, she heard a loud crash. Everyone's head swiveled to the sound. Luce had dropped the bowl she had been holding shattering it on the floor. Her voice was barely a whisper, "Where?"

"Luce," Clint's voice was soft, he went to put a hand on her shoulder, but she stepped away, towards Coulson.

"Where is my mother Agent Coulson?" Her voice was low and demanding, Coulson took a step back and held up a hand, "Look, I don't think now is the time, or place…" Luce scowled, and started towards him again, but Clint jumped in front of her. He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, "Luce. Coulson and I, and his highly trained team, will take care of it. You're going to stay here, understand?" She shook her head and tried to shrug him off, but Clint held on tighter, "You are going to stay in Stark Tower and if I have to sedate you, heaven help me, I will." Luce looked up at him, "It's my _mother_." Her voice was soft, almost pleading. Clint nodded, "I know, I _know_ Luce, but I only just got you back, I can't… I can't." He whispered those last words. Meri looked down, face flushed feeling like she overheard something she shouldn't have. Luce must have agreed to stay because she heard Clint clap her on the shoulder, "Okay, okay." He moved to Meredith, sweeping her up in a hug, "Don't stay up too late now, I'll be back soon." Meri breathed in her dad's scent, cementing it in her memory as she always did before he went on mission. "Love you, Dad." Clint let her go smiling, and ruffled her hair. Turning back towards Coulson, he said "Alright. Let's get this show on the road then."

**Anyway, if anybody is still out there, thanks for hanging around. :) I had some MAJOR writer's block that has been thoroughly dealt with and this story is SO ready for a conclusion. Which I am pumped for and so ready to deliver. A couple things, yes, there is no "war" blurb". It IS half-written though, so if people are interested I'll finish it and either post it as a one shot or like, as an addendum at the end of the story. Just let me know :) Also I'm going to be re-uploading some chapters because I finally went back and edited, so you may see more updates (but its really just me fixing screwy grammar.) Umm oh hey is there no "page break" button anymore? Cause I cannot find it. And it's frustrating, so if you could help me out with that, its much appreciated. Ahah okay, well welcome back readers! And hello new ones (if you've made it this far) aha. I look forward to hearing from you! See y'all next week! :)**


	10. Chapter 10-Luce

Luce lay silently in bed, breathing soft as she waited for the sounds of the house to fade away. It hadn't been long since Clint and Coulson left and Pepper had hurried the kids off to bed. With a little bit of luck, Luce might be able to catch their trail, and then her mom. Waiting one more minute, she finally decided the house had been quite long enough to guarantee everyone else was asleep. Silently she slipped out of the covers, already fully-dressed and into her boots. She crossed the room and cracked open the door. Seeing nothing, she crept out into the hall and then quickly strode towards the elevator.

"Going somewhere?" Luce nearly jumped out of her skin as Meri rose up from an armchair and spun the face her. Luce set her jaw, "Yeah, so?" She tossed her hair and continued walking passed Meri, who promptly fell in pace next to her, "You're going to find our mom aren't you?" Luce sighed and stopped, "_My_ mom, and so what if I am?" Meri opened her mouth to say something, but Luce held up her hand preemptively, "And you're not coming with me." _Meri, _Luce thought, _would just slow me down. She's already taken up too much valuable time. _With a last glance at Meri's upset face, she walked passed her and pressed the elevator call button. "Do you even know where you're going?" Meri called after her, "Or how to get there? Do you plan on taking the subway at this hour? There's scary people out there you know." Luce scowled and turned to look at Meri who had crossed her arms defiantly as if she had won the argument. "I can handle myself, thank you very much." Meri raised an eyebrow, "But wouldn't it be much easier with these?" She said dangling a pair of car keys in the air. Luce bit her lip but said nothing. Meri walked slowly up to her twin, "Here's the deal, you take me with you and we can use a car. Faster… safer… less smelly… get the picture?" Luce scowled at her but still weighed the pros and cons, finally deciding it might just be worth the hassle, "Fine. But I drive." She reached for the eys, which Meri promptly pulled back, "Nuh uh. License and registration please?" Meri's tone was joking, but Luce clenched her open fist, heisting, which caused Meri to drop her jaw in shock, "Oh my gosh, you don't have a license do you?" Luce said nothing, and Meri burst into laughter, "Seriously?! We're seventeen! Can you even _drive?_" Offended Luce took a step back, "Of course I can drive! I just never got a license." She muttered the last part under her breath. But then, the elevator doors opened and Luce followed a still cackling Meri all the way down to the parking garage.

...

Luce looked up from where her phone was busy tracking Agent Coulson's and studied Meri through her eyelashes. The subject in question was currently drumming on the steering wheel to the beat of the radio. _Why didn't I just take the keys from her? Heck, I could've just knocked her out. Better that than have her tag along. _Frustrated, Luce sighed under her breath. Maybe it had something to do with what Clint had said earlier, about trust. _Probably not, _Luce reassured herself. She wasn't sure if she feared the fact she was actually starting to trust people, or that, heaven forbid, she actually _wanted _Meri to come with her. She looked back at her phone, then spoke up, "Hey turn right here, it's just ahead." Meri turned the wheel smoothly, then slowly came to a stop. "A shawarma place? What'd they do, decide to have a late night snack?" Meri looked at Luce confused. Luce merely shook her head, taking in the closed shop, with its lights out and lack of activity. Taken all together it was a bad sign. She popped the car door open and crept around the car. Meri started to open her door too, but Luce stopped her. "No, Mer, you can't come." Meri opened her mouth to protest, but Luce just shook her head, "NO. Those people in there? They're the bad guys. Remember the Hand? They kidnapped our mom, but they'll _kill _you." She stared into Meri's eyes trying to make her understand. So what if Luce got hurt, but Meri, she was just a kid. Meri sighed, "Fine. I'll wait in the car." She sat back in the driver's seat and locked the doors dramatically, throwing her hands up in a "_See?"_ manner. Luce just nodded and sprinted away, around the back of the restaurant.

The alley, much to Luce's disappointment, was frightfully bare of weapons. Not even a plank of scrap wood was lying around. She shook her head, then took a deep breath to steady herself before easing open the shawarma restaurant's back door. Quietly, she ducked inside, carefully shutting the door behind her. Luce paused, letting her eyes adjust to the dark kitchen. Thankfully, it was empty. She strained her ears, listening for any sound. There. A slight murmur of voices was coming from back where the industrial freezer was. Keeping an eye on that direction, Luce scrounged the kitchen for weapons. Then, after arming herself with several kitchen knives and heavy-duty rolling pin, she made her way to the back of the kitchen.

However, the voices weren't coming from near the freezer, they were coming from _inside_ of it. With another steadying breath, she slipped through the propped open door. Creeping through the stacks of frozen food, she approached what looked like another door in the back of the freezer. _Typical_, she thought, _bad guys and their obsessions with secret lairs. _Reaching it, she flattened her back along the wall next to it and peered through the open slit.

The room, or better yet, basement, was dimly lit with overhead lights. There were twenty or so men surrounding something in the center. The odd bulkiness in their frames gave away their concealed weapons. Luce squinted trying to see passed the throng of people. She held back a groan as she realized what they were standing around.

_Her mother._

_How typical, _Luce thought_. _It was just so like her to get caught and fight her way out. "_You get more information that way Lu." _She could almost hear her mom say the words to her now. A final deep breath and a once-over all of her makeshift-weapons, and Luce stepped through the secret door.

She had stepped out onto the metal frame of a balcony that ran the length of the room. She eased sigh of relief as she noticed no one had seen her yet. Slowly her eyes roamed the room, taking in all the men, their positions and their nearness to cover. Either thankfully, or not, the room large as it was, happened to be fairly empty. Bad for the goons, but also bad for Luce who was ironically, bringing a knife to a gun fight. She steeled herself, and without giving it another thought, she launched herself over the railing.

Luce collapsed with an _oomph_ right on top of the nearest Hand member. _Perfect_. She rolled to a crouched position as the man began to stand again. Quickly, she swung her leg around, knocking him off balance and then grabbed his coat as he began to fall. The man grabbed her hands, fighting back, but she wiggled out of his grip and grabbed the rolling pin, whacking him across the face. Her hand still holding his jacket strained as he went unconscious. Readjusting her grip, she drug him under the staircase and into the shadows.

Lucky for Luce, the rest of the Hand hadn't noticed the commotion. _Benefits of a large room and an interesting prisoner, _Luce thought. It wasn't the first time her mom's captivating looks had lent unexpected aid to their missions. Working quickly, Luce untangled the man's gun from its holster. Checking its ammo and then tucking the gun into her waistband, Luce retook stock in the situation. As she scanned the room, a slight motion in the upper corner of the balcony caught her eye. She cocked her head up, and pursed her lips. It was Clint, he had waved her arms at her, and boy did he look pissed. Luce shrugged. She was here now and she could deal with his wrath later. She pointed at the armed men in front of her, as if to say "Shall I deal with them, or?" Clint just rolled his eyes, then muttered something into a comm system. Finally, he gave Luce a nod.

She sprinted out from under the stairs, and launched herself at the men nearest her. The first guy went down with shock and Luce smacked him the head with the butt of the gun to make sure he stayed down. Then squaring her shoulders, she shot the other man a small grin, "Let's play."

The fighting seemed, as it always did, to go on forever. Realistically, it had probably only been a couple minutes. Long enough for her to have abandoned the gun (out of ammo) and to lose a couple knives in the process. Luce had heard gunshots in the background, presumably Coulson's team finally getting in on the action. She pulled one of her remaining knives out of a particular meaty goon's leg and backhanded him across the face with it. The momentary lull in enemies allowed Luce a chance to assess the situation around the room. Most of the men had already been taken out, her mom had been freed and was now fighting back to back with Clint. Guns had been abandoned on the floor, the fight had devolved into a free-for-all. Moments later, the last opponent hit the ground with a thud.

The small silence of victory was shattered as a hail of bullets rained around the room, "ATTENTION PLEASE." Everyone turned towards the disturbance. A small gasp of shock left Luce as she saw the owner of the voice. The man standing at the base of the stairs, was tall, elegant; with white hair and a distinguished goatee. _Arthur Wilheim._ He might have been taken for a stately grandfather if he hadn't been holding an automatic rifle. Luce scowled, seeing the man who had controlled her for so many years brought up a lot of bad feelings. Made even worse by the fact he was flanked by two men; one of whom was holding Meri with a knife to her throat.

Clint started forward, but Wilheim shook his head. "Ah ah ah now, careful. We wouldn't want this sweet little girl to lose her head now would we?" He smiled, but there was no warmth in it. Clint stopped, but the look on his face was deadly, "If you so much as harm her…" he threatened. But Natasha reached out and grabbed his wrist, causing him to stop. Luce noted the exchange silently, then looked over to Meri.

"Now," Wilheim said, "It's really simple what I want." He slowly walked into the center of the room. Somehow, he had managed to enter through the secret door in the freezer and walk all the way down the stairs without anyone noticing. Either that, or he knew another way in. _Which, _Luce thought, _was probably more likely. _She glared at Wilheim.

"We don't negotiate." Coulson spoke up, voice firm. Wilheim tilted his head, "Is that so? I thought your niece might change that?" He gestured to his men, who gripped Meri's arm tighter, causing her to grimace. A small trickle of blood ran down her neck from where he held the knife. Tension ran tight in the room as nearly everyone involuntarily flinched forward. "Ah," Wilheim smiled, "So she does matter. Listen people, it's simple. All I want is to leave scot-free. You can have her." He said gesturing to Meri. "Oh, but I will take that one." He raised his hand, pointing at Luce.

"No deal." Coulson said, "You don't **get** anyone." Luce shot him a wild look. _I can handle myself! _She thought, _Meri on the other hand… _But Coulson wasn't looking at Luce. His eyes, along with everyone else's were on Wilheim. Luce looked back, locking eyes with Meri. _This isn't going to work. Someone is going to get hurt. _She ran through the scenarios in her head. She knew Wilheim. He would be expecting everything, anything. It would be virtually impossible to coordinate any kind of take-down. Especially in a hostage situation. A plan started forming in her mind. Luce took a deep breath, _this will work_. She studied Meri and then for the second time that night, acted without another thought. She reached for her last two knives, and threw.

...

**dun dun dun, what will happen next? The world will never know! JK you'll probably know next week. So, what did you think? Disappointed? Excited? I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts (what do you want more of, what did you like/hate?) I do my best to cater to you all, after all that's why I am writing! annnd just as a incentive, (and because no school Tues) I might just post the next chapter by Wednesday if i get inspired by, I dunno, say a review? (Just a thought)**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed and are having a good weekend!**

**-Cec**


	11. Chapter 11

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Meredith Barton was having one heck of a weekend. Not only was she dealing with constant crap from Dylan (that at least, she could handle), but then her teacher gets on her case, and her long-lost sister shows up, now her mom is supposedly alive and the same said sister is going to rescue her. Well, I am soo not going to sit her and let her have all the fun, thought Meri. Slowly peeking out the car window, she put her hand on the door handle. Noticing no one was around, she stepped outside of the car. After a tense moment where nothing happened, Meri let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Stupid Luce, thinks she knows everything. HA!" Meri grumbled, under her breath. She marched towards the alley Luce had disappeared down, mumbling curses towards Luce, her father, and any other person who didn't think was capable. Meri was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even notice the man approaching her. "Once I see her I'll just- Oh!" Meri ran face first into the broad chest of a very scary man. Before she even had time to react, the man had grabbed Meri by the arms, effectively pinning them to her sides.  
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" The speaker, was not the man holding her. Meri twisted her head, trying to see around her captor. This man was tall and reedy, a body his voice matches, Meri thought. She scowled at the man, not even thinking to play an innocent girl. She squirmed a bit, trying to dislodge her arms. "What we have here is an innocent girl, taken captive." Meri narrowed her eyes as the man laughed.  
"Oh that is a good one. It's been a while since I heard a joke that funny." The man smiled coldly, then said something in another language to the man holding her. Meri struggled more fiercely, suddenly afraid. Suddenly aware that these were not nice men, that these were the men Luce had warned her about. The man shook her roughly, and Meri was sure there would be bruises on her arms later. If she would ever live to see them. The tall man said something else to her captor and then suddenly Meri was being dragged along into the shawarma shop. They passed through the kitchen, and where heading back to the industrial freezer. Meri fought harder convinced they were going to toss her in the freezer to rot and die. Then, she felt a sharp pain on her temple, the tall man had smacked her. "Now, that's enough of that." Meri's head throbbed, her vision blurred. She lost sense of time for a moment and now she was in a large grey room surrounded by people. Her arms were free now, but when she tried to move, she felt something cold against her throat. Meri blinked away the confusion. She was standing, a knife to her throat. She recognized her father, and Luce. Uncle Phil was there, as well as a few members of the strike team she recognized. There was a red-haired women standing by Clint that she didn't recognize.  
"Now, it's really simple what I want." The tall man was saying. He stalked around the room.  
"We don't negotiate." said Phil. His voice was resolute but his eyes darted to Meri, she tried to smile at him but flinched when the knife was pressed closer to her throat. Meri felt a warm trickle of blood, and tried desperately not to think about death. She studied the faces of the people in the room instead. Phil was calm, as always, the strike team was virtually expressionless. The crazy tall man had a look of absolutely serenity and Clint looked like he was going to kill someone. Which only makes sense I guess, Meri thought. The red-haired women's face was a mask, but her eyes darted all over taking things in. At last, Meri turned to Luce. Her twin was shooting Phil an expression Meri could only categorize as furious. Apparently he said something she didn't like. Which isn't surprising either, Luce seems to have a thing against authority, she thought. Then Luce faced Meri, their eyes met. Meri watched as Luce slowly reached behind her, not breaking eye contact. In that instant, Meri knew exactly what to do. She brought up her arms and shoved the arm holding the knife to her throat away. The man didn't put up a fight because Luce's knife was already embedded in his chest. Meri dropped to the floor as bullets erupted around her. She tried to cover her head and scoot back towards a wall at the same time. Her heart pounded fiercely. A man ran up to her, grabbing her legs. She screamed and kicked back at him, connecting solidly with his face. He jerked back and then spasmed, falling to the ground as blood poured out of the fresh bullet hole in his head. Meri looked at him in shock, unmoving. At first she thought she had gone deaf, but then she realized the fighting had stopped. Meri didn't move, just sat there staring at the dead man.  
"Meri! Meredith!" Her father's voice rang out and then suddenly she was in his arms. Meri buried her face in his shoulder and took deep breaths. I am okay, I am alive, she thought. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced the image from her mind, then looked up at her dad, calmer.  
"So listen, there's this parent-teacher conference thing…" Meri started to say, and her dad laughed,  
"You are in so much trouble, Meredith Barton."  
"I'm in trouble, it wasn't even my idea!" She pushed herself out of Clint's arms, smiling. Then looked around for the culprit. It was some serious twin telepathy that she and Luce had managed to pull that off. Meri wasn't quite sure what happened, but it seemed to have worked out. She scanned the room. The strike team was cuffing a few guys and Phil was arguing with someone on the phone. Luce, it looked like had hugged the red-haired women and was now babbling to her in Russian. With a start, Meri realized that the women must be her mother. "Dad, dad is that…" Meredith said quietly, not taking her eyes off the women. "Yeah, kiddo, it is." He said. Neither made a move to get up though. It was Luce that started running towards them. "Oh my gosh, Meri I am SO sorry!" Luce slid to her knees and threw her arms around her twin. Meri froze,  
"Um, it's okay, I guess. I mean, we did it, in the end." Meri's voice was hesitant. Luce pulled back and looked Meri in the eyes, face shining. "That was totally epic was is not? The way you just knew like that." A grin spread on Luce's face, and Meri couldn't help but smile back. It had been pretty cool. Before she could agree, Clint cut in.  
"Speaking of…" He trailed off, giving Luce a stern look. Meri had been on the receiving end of that look many times, but Luce didn't waver. Instead she just shrugged. Clint nodded, and bit his lip unamused. "Walk with me, won't you?" He said to Luce, and then headed away without waiting for a response. Luce looked at Meri, who just shrugged. She sighed, then stood and took after Clint. Meri didn't fancy being in Luce's shoes. If Meri knew anything at all, she was probably in for a long lecture. Sure enough, as soon as they were out of earshot, Clint started gesturing, his face furious. Luce just folded her arms and glared at him.  
"I don't doubt you've seen this side of him before," Natasha's voice was soft, and she gave Meri a half-smile as she spoke. Meri looked at her, and grinned ruefully, "You'd be right, but I haven't since Luce showed up. I think I might keep her around." Natasha laughed at that. It was a sound that filled Meri with instant warmth. It was a nice laugh, not unlike Pepper's, but there was something kinder in Natasha's laugh. It made Meri want to make her laugh again. Yet, they sat in silence. Meri not wanting to say the wrong thing, for fear of driving her off and Natasha simply being too tired, and afraid she might upset her newly found daughter. Finally, Meri worked up the courage,  
"So, are you going to come back?" She looked at Natasha with what she hoped was a neutral expression, but there was no avoiding the hope in her voice. "Yeah kiddo, she is." Clint had come up to them, apparently finished telling Luce off. He smiled at Meri, and helped her to her feet. Then, he turned to Natasha, "She isn't going anywhere, ever again." The two held eye contact for a long moment. The romantic silence was broken by Luce loudly groaning,  
"Ugh, you two are making me sick! Just kiss already!" She rolled her eyes dramatically. Natasha looked at her daughter then said something in Russian that made Luce blush, "whatever," she mumbled. "I hate to break up the family the reunion, but we need to leave, now." Phil Coulson approached the group. Apparently, he had finally gotten off the phone, and was now packing it up. "Alright, we've got vans outside, we'll take separate routes and meet back at HQ." Clint nodded and reached out a hand, Natasha took it, standing. "We're taking separate cars, Luce and Hawkeye you're with me, Widow and Meredith, you're with Agent Dowell." Phil barked. Clint started to protest, but Phil shut him down, "It's a five minute drive Barton, you'll survive." That seemed to be the end of the conversation, but the next thing Meri knew she was being bundled into an SUV and shuttled across New York City. ...  
Luce sat on the medical examination table, frowning. She was fine really. A few scratches and some lasting bruises, but she'd had worse. The doctor however, would not stop fussing. All it took was Clint mentioning the car accident and then Luce had yet to have a moments rest. Now she was to be checked for a concussion and then broken bones, as if she wouldn't have noticed. As she sat in her gloom, Luce realized she could have it worse. She could be Meri. Meri was in another room, surrounded by doctor's checking for all sorts of damage. Sheesh, one little prick on the neck and the next thing you know… Luce got distracted from her thoughts by a nurse trying to stab her with something. She smacked the nurse's hand away. "That's enough of that, thank you." She glared at the nurse, then hopped down from the table. Luckily, was still in her clothes from before and hadn't been forced into a hospital gown.  
"Miss, you aren't cleared to leave yet," the nurse called as Luce walked to the door.  
"Does it look like I care?" Luce said to no one as she pushed open the door and exited into the hall. It was empty, and Luce wasn't quite sure where she was going. She just knew that if she sat in that room for one more second, she might actually kill someone. Deciding on a direction, Luce headed down the hall. The walls were blank white, and the doors were completely covered. There was no way to tell what led to where, and the effect was disorienting. Luce thought that was probably the point. Then an escapee doesn't know where to go. Just like her, she supposed. As she walked down the hall, she heard Meri's voice coming through a door,  
"I told you, I'm fine, I just want to go home." Her voice was tired and pleading.  
"I know honey, we will. I just want to make sure you're okay." A painful lump rose in Luce's throat, but she shoved it down. There was no reason to be jealous of Meri, or of the way Clint talked to her. It was ridiculous. Still, Luce couldn't help but feel a little sad. Angrily, Luce stalked passed the door, more determined than ever to get out of this wing. She made it to the end of the hall and turned right, nearly running into someone. "Oh, Meri I'm sor… wait are you?" The agent in question hesitated, studying Luce.  
"I am, looking for Agent Romanoff." She looked pointedly at the agent, who blinked in surprise.  
"Oh I'm not sure I…" he hesitated again, but looking at Luce thought better of it, "She's in debrief." "Which is…" "A floor down." "Right, thanks." She pushed passed the agent, impatiently. The elevators were thankfully just behind him. She stalked into one and turned, giving the agent a sickly sweet smile, as the doors shut. This floor had a lot more agents roaming around. None of them gave her any trouble though, and were more than happy to direct her to the conference room. When Luce reached the door, she didn't even think to knock, just twisted the knob and barged right in.  
"Miss Barton," the woman rose from her chair, stopping their conversation mid-sentence. The woman had brown hair and was wearing a standard SHIELD suit. She was looking at Luce with surprise. Natasha, spun around in her chair from where she had been sitting across from the woman,  
"Hey sweetheart, have a nice trip?" Her voice was cajoling, and it instantly put Luce at ease. She didn't realize how much she had missed her mom in the few days they'd been apart. "Oh yeah, angry silence is the best." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. She had sat in the backseat arms crossed glaring daggers at Clint. He had refused to say anything to her, even after they got to HQ, just directed an agent to "Take her to medical." Natasha smiled,  
"And I suppose you didn't deserve that?" Luce flopped down in the chair next to her mom,  
"Of course not, you know I'm an angel. I never do anything wrong." She smiled at Natasha, who quirked an eyebrow. The woman meanwhile had settled back into her chair and watched then bemused.  
"Lucille I'm-" she started to say,  
"It's Luce." "Luce then," she began again, unfazed, "I'm Director Hill, I'm in charge of all things SHIELD, and right now that means talking to your mother, in private." Luce blinked at her, but made no move to go. Director Hill held her gaze for a moment, then turned to Natasha. Her mom just shrugged,  
"She already knows everything I could tell you, Hill." The woman sighed, then clicked her pen, tapping it on the pad of paper in front of her. "Okay. Well, I think I have everything I need for now anyway." She stood, as the door opened. An agent peeked her head in, "Director you're needed in the situation room." Hill nodded at her, and the door shut. "Okay, well you two are free to go, but Nat, go to medical first please?" The director looked at Natasha until she nodded her agreement, then headed out the door. Luce spun to face her mom, quickly checking her over. She didn't see any bullet holes, but that didn't mean she wasn't injured. Luce stood,  
"C'mon we might as well. It's about time I rescued Meri from those goons anyway." Her mom followed as Luce led the way out the door and down the hall.  
"You two got close then huh?" She looked at Luce carefully. Luce shrugged,  
"I dunno, sort of I guess." She didn't elaborate and Natasha didn't push her to. After a moments silence, spoke again, "I mean, it's more of a like, feeling thing. Like, I don't know anything about her, but something just feels right, you know?" She looked up at her mom for confirmation. Natasha smiled, "I expect it's a twin thing Lu." Luce nodded, and they walked on. Finally, they had reached the door where Luce had heard Meri's voice. She threw open the door and shouted,  
"I've come to save you!" Meri looked up, startled, from where she lay on a bed,  
"Oh thank god, I've been going crazy." She brushed back her curly hair, and smiled at Luce. Luce grinned back, only faltering briefly upon noticing the bandage on her throat.  
"What do you say we blow this Popsicle stand?" "I think that's brilliant." Meri hopped down from her bed, and shoved her feet into her shoes. The two headed out the door back to where Natasha was waiting. Natasha it seemed, was being accosted by a doctor determined to look her over.  
"For the last time Dr. Nelson, I just need a good night's sleep."  
"You say that every time Natasha."  
"Yes, well," Her eyes landed on Meri and Luce, "Oh girls, you're ready! Great, let's go." Natasha turned away from the doctor and put one arm around each of them, steering them away from the doctor and down the hall. "You look great Meredith."  
"Um it's just Meri, but um, thanks." Meri stumbled as they paced towards the direction of the elevators. Once inside, Natasha visible relaxed, "I hate hospitals" she mumbled in Russian, and Luce smirked. Natasha leaned against a wall and turned to Meri,  
"Where'd your father end up?"  
"Um he's with Agent Coulson I think, in the situation room." Natasha sighed. "Okay, detour: get Clint, and then we're all headed to a nice warm bed, sound good?" She looked to each of them, and Luce and Meri nodded eagerly. She hadn't realized it until her mother mentioned it, but Luce was bone-tired. Suddenly, her limbs felt heavy and her eyes were fighting to stay open. Not sleeping and fighting for your life, does that to you, Luce had come to realize. The elevator doors opened, and Luce blearily followed Natasha and Meri down the hall. Natasha threw open double-wide doors, and marched into a room. It was almost identical to the room Luce had been in two days ago or was it three? She couldn't remember. People were gathered around a large screen with a map, and blinking dots. It was a buzz of activity, but Natasha cleared her way through the people and marched right up to where Clint was speaking with Coulson. "Okay, but we have to consider," he was saying, and then noticed the three of them "Tasha." He gazed at Natasha.  
"Clint," she said softly, "Listen, I'm tired, the girls are tired, and we just want to go home and sleep. Can't this wait?" She looked at him pleading. He sighed and rubbed his face,  
"I want to Nat but something's come up…" Whatever else he was saying got lost as the edges of Luce's vision blurred. Confused she put her hand out, to steady her balance. Instead she careened face first towards the floor. Clint jumped, grabbing her before she hit the floor,  
"And that's what no sleep and a concussion gets you," his voice was distant, as if he was speaking behind glass, "Coulson I thought she wasn't supposed to leave the infirmary?"  
"She wasn't, but you know what happens when we try and tell Luce to stay anywhere." Luce felt rather than heard Clint chuckle. She was cradled against his chest now. Head a bit clearer now, Luce struggled against him,  
"I'm perfectly fine, put me down." She glared at him.  
"If you say so," he said, letting her go carefully. Luce stood for a moment, and then took a few steps and stumbled to the ground. "That's what I thought." He said, picking her up again. "Coulson, I'm going to take these guys home, but I expect updates." Luce thought that Coulson replied, but it was lost again as she faded out. ... 


	12. Chapter 12

Clint's flicked to the rearview again. Meri's face was plastered against the window, fast asleep. Luce was still out, her head resting on Meri's shoulder.

"Clint," Natasha's voice was soft, "they're fine."

"I know."

"Well that's the third time in thirty seconds you've checked. You've spent more time looking in the mirror than watching the road."

"Are you criticizing my driving?"

"Well we all know you drive like an East European cab driver." Clint smiled to himself. Moments passed in companionable silence. The hum of the road took over the silence. Clint's thoughts drifted to the girls sitting behind him. Meri had been a trooper the past few days. He knew that he wasn't around as much as she'd like. Then with Luce showing up, Meri had taken it all in stride and he was proud. A bit mad that she had come along on Luce's wild escapade, but still proud. And Luce. Luce who was unconscious in the back seat, and had been the ring-leader in that event, endangering herself _and _Meri. Clint who couldn't stay mad at her no matter how much he tried. And Tasha. Oh Natasha,

"God I missed you," he said.

"I know." They said nothing else, but she didn't complain when he took back roads to Stark Tower, doubling-back and doubling-back again, as though trying to lose a tail. Both knew it was a guise for spending more time in the car. In the temporary peace and security the car created. Meri shifted, and Clint looked back at her. She pulled herself away from the window, rubbing the sleep from her eyes,

"Dad? Are we home yet?"

"Almost Mer," he said softly. In fact, he had been circling the block for a couple rounds now. As Meri sat up carefully, so as not to disturb Luce, he slowly pulled into the Tower Garage. He parked the car, and Natasha got out to get Luce. Meri sat still, as Natasha shook Luce gently,

"Luce, _pora vstavat'_ Luce" she whispered in Russian. Luce moved away from her hands,

"_Yeshche pyat' minut." _Natasha sighed and looked at Clint exasperated.

"Here, I got her Tash," Clint said, reaching over Meri to pick up the still sleeping Luce. Natasha smiled at him gratefully. He knew it was better if Luce just kept sleep and so did she. "Come on Mer." He called, walking towards the elevator.

It was five in the morning, and although Clint knew no one would be up, he was still relieved when the elevator doors revealed an empty living room. He crossed the penthouse quickly, heading for the guest room. Meri mumbled a good night, and headed for her room as well. Clint lay Luce on the bed, and pulled her shoes off gently. He pulled up the covers, and then quietly left the room. Natasha was still standing where the elevator doors let them out. Clint stopped, stand a ways away from her.

"It's so different, and yet," she said.

"I know." He knew exactly what she meant. When she had "left" Stark Tower was not the haven for children it had become. There had still been sharp, futuristic furniture and liquor bottles on display. Now she had returned and instead there were backpacks strewn about, and a baby toy likely left by the Banners. "C'mon Tasha, let's go to bed." He said softly, holding out his hand. Hesitantly, as though walking on ice, she took it. He led her down the hall and to the one room that hadn't changed in all those years.

...

Luce woke up gradually, she felt comfortable and relaxed for the first time in a while and she longed to make it last. Someone had changed her into soft pajamas. Sighing, she slowly eased open one eye, consciously aware of the fact it was already bright out. When a stabbing pain did not occur, she sat up and took in her surroundings. She was back in the guest room at Stark Tower, it seemed to be about midmorning, and thanks to the alarm clock on the nightstand Luce knew she was right. There was something else on the nightstand as well. Reaching over, Luce picked up the small post-it note. It simply read:

"What's 2 +2?" Luce smiled to herself. It was her mom's handwriting. It was both a message and a code. The fact her mom had managed to write an inside joke on the slip of paper meant that all was well. As for the message, Luce remembered that night she came back from training with a severe concussion.

_She had stumbled into the room they shared, having been prematurely dismissed after passing out on the mats. The trainers didn't tolerate weakness, and they definitely didn't think that weakness deserved to be coddled. So Luce had to make her way back to the dorm, barely conscious and bleeding everywhere. Natasha had been frantic. At least, that was how Luce remembered it. She remembered her mom asking all sorts of questions, trying to gauge the severity of her head trauma. After failing to remember what year it was, Natasha had asked her what two plus two was. Luce had tried to convince her the answer was six._

Looking back on it now, Luce couldn't think of a single reason why she thought the answer was six. Still the memory stuck with the both of them and now it had become a sort of joke. After all, a concussion can't be so bad if you still know two plus two. _Four_, Luce thought smiling. Slowly she got to her feet, just in case the mental test hadn't worked. But it had. Luce stood steady on her feet, and stomach growling, made her way to the kitchen.

Meri was sitting at the bar, a bowl of yogurt in front of her. She had dark circles under her eyes and it appeared to Luce that she hadn't slept at all.

"Hey," Meri croaked.

"Hey," Luce said softly. "Can I get some of that?" She gestured to the yogurt. Meri nodded,

"It's in the fridge, help yourself." Luce opened the fridge and grabbed the yogurt. She spooned some into a bowl and took seat near Meri. Neither girl said anything. Luce wasn't quite sure what to say, "_Hey I'm sorry you got a knife to the throat, but I did tell you to stay in the car" _didn't feel quite appropriate. Luce was slowly realizing, from the way that Meri had reacted that night, screaming and all, and how her hands shook now, that she wasn't used to it. To the violence, and death threats. It made sense of course, Meri had grown up in a posh lifestyle, but when Luce was around her, it just felt like they were the same. That Luce had known Meri all her life. Maybe that's why she didn't really hesitate when bringing Meri along last night. But boy did she get in trouble for that,

_"Why the hell is Meri here?" Clint had barked. Luce shrugged,_

_"She wanted to come along, how was I supposed to stop her?" Clint gave her a hard look,_

_"Are you telling me a highly trained assassin wasn't able to stop a seventeen year old high schooler from coming on a highly dangerous mission?" Luce opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her off again, "And __**you**_**. **_You are in so much trouble, do you know how much was at Stake here? But no, you didn't care because you're the ever-so-stubborn Lucille who will save her own mother. Never mind the fact that a highly capable strike team was already in position. You decide to literally throw yourself into the situation. Do you realize how stupid that was? Do you?" Luce bit her lip, unable to meet his eyes. In truth, she hadn't really thought about it. She was just so used to it being just her and her mom, it never really occurred to her there would be help. But there had been. And now Clint was yelling at her just like her old instructors were. She didn't say anything, afraid to be told off for talking back. Clint just scowled,_

_"Fine. Don't answer. But this conversation isn't over." He turned back towards the others, and had left her standing there._

Well, she did deserve it, she thought. Luce had been reckless and Meri had paid for it.

"Why do glum chums?" Philip sauntered into the kitchen, grinning broadly at the two sullen faced girls, "I heard you guys had an adventure last night." He leaned against the counter facing them, "Of course, I'm not _technically_ supposed to know about it, but you know how things go."

"Yeah, can't keep your fat nose out of anyone's business." Meri shot at him

"Geez Mer, when did you get to be so cruel? I thought that was Luce's job?" he said. Luce looked up blankly,

"What? I'm not…" she started, but trailed off when Philip winked at her.

"It's true, I have a thirst for knowledge. But I don't remember you ever complaining about _that _before, especially when your Dad's been-"

"When I've been what?" Philip cut off abruptly as Clint entered the kitchen. Philip snapped his mouth shut, and shook it head rapidly,

"Nothing." Clint raised an eyebrow, but chose not to say anything more. Instead he turned to Luce,

"Your mom's still asleep for now. I thought it would be best if we let her rest." Luce nodded her consent. Her mom probably ended up with less sleep than Luce had, and if she knew anything, this was probably the deepest sleep her mom was getting in months. Clint had said something upsetting to Meri because her voice rose high,

"What? Dad, no. I've hardly seen you in months!"

"I know, I know Mer but-"

"But nothing Dad! Work can wait. You've just been reunited with your long lost wife, I'm sure Maria will understand." She crossed her arms. Clint just sighed and rubbed his forehead,

"Meredith, you don't understand."

"So explain it to me then." There was a challenge in her voice.

"Mer, you know I can't…" He trailed off as Meri stood,

"That's what I thought." She glared at him, voice full of hurt. Then, she turned and ran away down the hall. Luce just sat there staring into her empty bowl. She looked up eyes meeting Philip's widening. Philip looked cautiously at Clint.

"I'll go talk to her," he said, and followed Meri down the hall.

Clint sighed again, and sat in Meri's vacated chair,

"Why does raising teenagers have to be so hard?" He asked into his hands.

"Tell me about it," said Luce half-smiling. He turned and glared at her, then chuckled shaking his head,

"Don't even get me started on you." Luce raised her arms in an innocent gesture, and Clint smiled, "How's the head?"

"Fine," she said. Clint raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. Luce wasn't lying, _this time._

"Right well, you had us worried there for a second." Luce didn't say anything, just got up and went to rinse her bowl in the sink.

"I've been through worse." She whispered. Then frowned, unsure of why she was whispering. She turned, bracing herself for pity in Clint's expression, but there was only contemplation instead. They stared at each other quietly.

"Wow, stimulating conversation you've got going on over here." Luce's face broke into a smile at her mom's voice. Natasha was standing, leading against the entrance to the kitchen,

"Mom!" she said, running over to give her a hug. Natasha laughed, embracing Luce,

"What? You thought I'd leave you in the middle of the night?"

"That thought had occurred to me," Luce admitted. Natasha laughed again, then stilled as she saw Clint. He smiled at her,

"Tasha."

"Clint." She said. A moment passed, then it seemed to break as Natasha looked down at Luce, "Now how about getting your old _mat'_ some breakfast?"

...

Meri sat on the stairs, trying unsuccessfully to stop tears from leaking out of her eyes. These stairs were always her favorite place to go to be alone. They were never used, but supposed to be a fire escape. Tony had cleverly hidden them when be built the tower, the whole outside wall was one-way glass. Every time Meri came out here, she felt as though she were flying above the city, gazing down on its people. It was simultaneously exhilarating and lonely.

"Hey," Philip's voice echoed down the stairs. Meri saw him in the reflection of the glass, standing a few steps above her.

"Hey," she said, hating how small her voice sounded. She hated the need in it. She hated a lot of things right now. Hated her father for always being busy and never telling her what was going on, hated Luce for being allowed to know, but really she just hated herself. How needy she always felt. She felt like one of those girls who clung to a guy, but instead of a boyfriend it was her absentee father. She thought it's be different once her mom came back, well so far it wasn't.

"It hasn't even been a day Meri." Philip said to her, joining her on her step.

"What?"

"Things aren't going to change overnight." She looked at him confused, _had I said that last thought out loud? _"Look," Philip continued, "Things are going be difficult, and tense these first few days, especially with all that's happened. But it'll get better, I promise." He looked at her kindly, and offered a rueful grin,

"Besides even if it doesn't work out, at least you get like a thousand pity points." He laughed, and Meri shoved him. She'd be lying if she didn't admit she'd thought about pulling the I-had-a-knife-geld-to-my-throat card.

"I'm just saying," he said.

"I know." She sat in silence, and Philip outlined all the ways she could get out of things now. From gym class, to presentations, and in one far-fetched scheme, a field trip. She sighed, realizing that her father was probably going to leave again soon and her sitting out here meant she would have even less time with him. She stood. Philip paused in his explanations, but didn't question her, just followed as Meri led the way back inside.

She approached the kitchen alone. Philip had quietly disappeared into his own room and Meri was thankful for his tact. She heard laughter coming from the room, and as she entered it she saw her dad, Natasha and Luce all sitting around the kitchen bar, smiling. Meri squashed the instant surge of jealously, as Clint looked up and noticed her,

"I decided to take a day off," he said.

"Oh you _decided _did you?" Natasha said cocking an eyebrow. Clint grimaced,

"Okay, I was manhandled into it," he corrected glaring at Natasha, then turned to smile at Meri, "but I am glad for it." Meri smiled back. She tried to tell herself that she didn't care he changed his mind for Natasha and not her. After all, Natasha was the love of his life, and she was just his daughter. But as he came up to give her a big hug and whisper sorry in her ear, Meri realized that he had taken a day off for all of them, and especially for her.

...

**Well, one year later... aha aha haaa please don't kill me. Alright here's the deal peeps, this is the unofficial end to the story. I saw unofficial because I may go back and actually edit the chapters. (I blew through these last two because I became inspired and I felt an ending was deserved. That said, I realize my style may have slightly changed over the year haha and so there's more dialogue and less inner-talk. I really like diving into the minds of the characters so I may go back and put some more I just haven't decided.) Reason number two this is an "unofficial" end is because I have left a chance for a **_**sequel**_**! I have lots of ideas for one, but I'll only post it when a) It's completed (that way this one year gap doesn't happen) and b) i****f people are interested in reading about it****.**

**_That said, _****Thank you so much to everyone who has favorited, followed and/or reviewed, I love you guys so much! I hope I didn't disappoint you too badly. And finally, one last beg for reviews. This is my last chance to get some feedback and I would really appreciate and love it!**

**Thanks again you guys, you rock my world! Love, Cecily Grace**


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